Running If You Call My Name
by alwaysdreamingbig
Summary: A story set in AU in which Mindy and Danny do not work together and instead meet when Mindy becomes Danny's patient.
1. Chapter 1

Miss Lahiri, Dr. Castellano will see you know" a young receptionist said. Mindy was sitting in the waiting room of Shulman & Associates, a OB-GYN clinic located in New York City. Mindy had been looking for a new OB-GYN since her move from Boston and at first the idea of a male gynaecologist had seemed, for some weird reason, a bit uncomfortable. For most she was the outgoing, occasionally crazy and silly girl from Massachusetts, but despite her confidence on herself, she occasionally did feel shy around men. But since her new life in New York was all about getting out of her comfort zone and facing new challenges, Mindy settled a time for a check-up with Dr Daniel Castellano after her best friend, Gwen, kept recommending him for her.

Mindy got up from the comfortable seat in the waiting room and followed the nurse who introduced herself as Betsy towards the operation room. Once Betsy opened the door, Mindy came face to face with Danny Castellano.

"I am doctor Castellano", Danny said while extending his hand for a shake. Mindy smiled and shook hands with the surprisingly young and handsome doctor. He signalled Mindy towards a seat across from his desk and waited for Mindy to be seated before he spoke again.

"I had your files sent over from Boston, and I went through your medical history, which looks generally quite good. We'll do just a routine check-up and after that discuss some possible questions and issues."

"That sounds great." Mindy said and placed her purse on the chair next to the operation table. Without a word Dr Castellano handed her a light blue robe and discreetly went to look for something from his book shelf, his back facing Mindy, thus giving her some privacy to undress. As Mindy was removing her clothes, her thoughts began to wander to her first few weeks in New York. Though Gwen was close by, she still felt quite lonely. Gwen had a family and a husband, whereas Mindy was still alone, as a hopeless romantic looking for "Mr. Right".

"Hey doc, I'm ready for the inspection", Mindy said, surprising herself with the playfulness of her voice. For some it could even seem like she was flirting with Dr Castellano. Maybe she was, but definitely not intentionally. There probably was no situation more un-romantic than a gynaecological examination. Out of routine, she went first to the scale and without being told to do so, jumped on it and waited for Dr Castellano to come and check the results. Though she was confident about her body, this part always made her a little bit nervous.

"Looks good... Of course losing a couple of pounds would not be bad for you, but if you keep up with healthy lifestyle and exercise, you should be fine. If you could now move to the table and I'll do the breast examination and the gynaecological examination". Dr. Castellano sounded almost like a machine, saying the words mechanically, repeating something he had most likely said several times before. Mindy realized Dr Castellano was the polar opposite of her previous OB-GYN Martha, who had an extremely personal, occasionally un-professional relationship with her patients. Daniel Castellano seemed to have no time for nonsensical chit-chat. Mindy loosened the robe around her chest and lied down on the table. Dr Castellano rubbed his hands together to warm them up before starting with the breast examination. With a firm, professional touch, he was done in no time – there was nothing sexual or arousing in what he was doing. This was his job, and Mindy noticed that he was extremely good at it. The gynaecological examination proceeded in a similar way, and in no time Mindy was back in her own clothes, sitting across Dr Castellano.

"Everything looks good and you should be fine until the next check-up. I'll give you a new prescription to your birth control pill so you don't have to come to the clinic for that. Do you yourself have any questions?"

"Thank you, doctor. I think I'm fine for now." Mindy said and smiled. Danny looked at her and smiled, just for a couple of seconds, before going back to his calm and collected complexion. Mindy became curious about the non-professional Daniel Castellano, the man with a dazzling smile.

"If you have any questions, please call the clinic and the reception will direct your call for me. Thank you for choosing Shulman and Associates"

Mindy got up, shook Dr Castellano's hand and left the room. She said goodbye to Betsy at the reception and walked towards the elevator. She pushed the button on the wall and in a couple of seconds, the doors opened. Mindy stepped in and pushed the button to the ground floor. Just as the doors were almost closed, a hand of a man, a hand that had examined her just minutes before, was placed between the doors. The doors opened again and Dr Castellano, now wearing a black leather jacket instead of his white doctor's jacket, stepped into the elevator.

"Hello", he said while the mechanical doors started to close again.

"Hello, Dr. Castellano", Mindy said and discreetly tried to give a look to see how the doctor's upper body looked in the tight jacket.

"Oh, please call me Danny." He said and smiled at her.

"Alright… Danny."

The doors began to open again and once they reached the ground floor, Danny's phone started to ring. Mindy stepped out of the elevator and when she turned around for a final look at the dashing doctor, he smiled at her and said:

"It was good to meet you, Mindy"

"It was good to meet you too, Danny".


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Gwen, you want to meet up for drinks or something?" Mindy was on phone, still wearing her pyjamas even though it was already past noon. She had taken time away from her job to get settled in the city, and it today was her last free day before returning back to work. Mindy was both excited and nervous about her new employment – after graduating from Princeton, she moved back to Massachusetts to be closer to her family, but once she realized that she would never change and never move to any direction with her life in that environment, she decided to look for new possibilities. When a position opened at New York and her boss recommended her for it, she took it.

"That's fine, don't worry. I think I'll just get something to eat and watch some TV. I have to be at work tomorrow anyway, so better just take it easy today", Mindy said to her phone with a slight disappointment on her face, trying her best to hide it from her voice. Since Gwen got married and became a mother, they obviously did not have as much time to spend together as they used to, and as childish as it sounds, sometimes Mindy felt like she was fighting from Gwen's attention with her little girl.

"I'll call you tomorrow after I'm done. Love you too", Mindy said and threw her phone to the sofa far more forcefully than she planned. She sat down and after a moment of just staring quietly at black TV screen, she determinedly got up and said to herself: "for god's sake woman, you are in New York City. You are an educated, sophisticated adult in a city filled with interesting stories and interesting people. Just go out and have some fun". She shook her head slightly and laughed quietly at herself and the memory of Gwen telling her during their first week in college that she loved the way Mindy talked to herself as an encouragement. With those memories still in her mind Mindy walked to her closet and quickly picked up a comfortable pair of jeans, a hoodie and ballet flats. She put her wallet and phone in her pockets along with her apartment key and left her place to spend a day outside in the sunny New York.

It was September and the city bathed in the colours of fall – oranges and yellows in every shade imaginable. Mindy walked to the corner coffee shop, ordered a pumpkin spice latte and started to walk without a planned destination – she just wanted to go where her feet took her, exploring the city without haste. She had been in New York several times before, but it had always felt like she had to do everything in a hurry – it was difficult to fill all the things she had wanted to do in a city big as New York to a weekend trip. But now she was there to stay, so she had all the time in the world to fall in love with the city over and over again.

As she started to approach Central Park, she started to hear the thumbing beat of the drummers and cacophony of sounds coming from violins, trumpets and other instruments of the street artists. There was a group of young African drummers beating their colourful drums in an ethnic beat, a group of young dancers dancing like in a trance in front of them. A bit further the road from them there was a group of three women, two of them playing violins and one of them a cello. The types of music the two groups were playing were completely different, but in a very weird, non-logical way, they kind of fitted well together. Mindy smiled, walking among the tourists and the locals. Suddenly, she heard someone playing one of her favourite songs, Billy Joel's 'Piano Man'. First there was only the melody, but after a while, she was also able to hear a male voice singing the lyrics she knew so well. Though the playing nor the singing weren't perfect, the song fit so well to the situation –the place was crowded and though everyone in that park had a different story, there was something that united them all – the city, that place, that moment, that song. The voice of the singer was melancholy – not sad, just a bit weary. As Mindy approached the voice, she started to look for change in her pocket – she loved music but she rarely found street performances that really touched her in a way that this performance did. Once she reached the spot, she realized there were only a couple of other people listening to the song – the musician had chosen a spot that was further away from the main walkway, almost making it look like he was playing for himself, not for the tourists or the New Yorkers having their Sunday afternoon stroll. When Mindy finally got a look at the man sitting behind the keyboard, she couldn't believe her eyes. It was Dr. Castellano. Danny.


	3. Chapter 3

For a moment, Mindy couldn't catch her breath. She did not know how to feel about this sudden realization that her doctor, the somewhat dreamy Daniel Castellano was actually there, in Central Park, on an ordinary September Sunday playing a small keyboard and singing Billy Joel's 'Piano Man'. He was wearing straight jeans and a grey t-shirt with a V-neck, looking casual as ever. There was neither a hat nor a cup on the ground, meaning that he was not playing for money; he was playing because he felt like doing so, because he enjoyed it. Once he finished with the song, the small crowd of people clapped for a while and left the scene. Only Mindy remained, watching Danny softly moving his fingers along the keys, not pushing them far enough to make a sound. His face was in the shadows cast by the orange yellow tree and its branches. Mindy, not knowing whether she should just leave and not say hello anxiously ran her hand through her hair. Just when she was about to start to walk towards Danny, deciding that it was rude not to greet someone she knew, he turned his gaze towards her. His eyes were sparkling and there was a tear on his cheek. Mindy had no idea what to do. He looked confused and it first seemed like he did not know who she was. Mindy thought that she was silly to expect that he would know her – he must have several patients a day, more or less like Mindy. Why would he remember her? But then a dawn of recognition appeared on his face and he brushed the tear away in haste, getting up in a way that looked very uncomfortable.

"Mindy, right?" He said, approaching her, leaving the keyboard and the chair behind.

"Yeah… I'm sorry if I interrupted you or anything… I just really like that song and I could not believe my eyes when I realized it was you singing. I'm sorry, I'm babbling on like a maniac." Mindy said, smiling nervously at Danny. He was also smiling now, way more broadly than he did at the clinic. Mindy noticed his smile was a bit crooked. When he really smiled, also his eyes were sparkling more than they did before.

"Hey, don't worry", Danny said and awkwardly tapped Mindy's shoulder with his hand. He clearly went for a brush but realized that they might not be familiar enough for that and in order to make it somewhat tolerable, decided to tap her. "I come and play here occasionally, when I have time. I don't play for money or anything, I just like the scenery."

"I get that… This is a beautiful place. And you played beautifully", Mindy said, some of the initial shyness disappearing. Weirdly, she felt like it was easier to talk to this half-stranger than to some people she had known for years. "You were great, by the way".

"Oh, my keyboard playing sucks. But hey, I'm glad to hear someone likes it", Danny said and ruffled his hair with his hand. This guy either knew exactly how to put his moves on and make himself look like Mr Perfect, or then he just actually was like that, all casual and doctor and artistic. Mindy did not quite know which option was better. And why should she even care?

"So, you're new to New York?" Danny asked while picking up the keyboard and placing it in a large backpack.

"That's right. I moved here from Boston, I'm starting at my new job tomorrow", Mindy said and picked up the fold-out chair Danny had used from the ground. Danny looked at her and smiled lazily. Since he did not say anything but just kept walking slowly, Mindy started to babble and realized that if the situation stays the same, she will end up sharing her life story with him before they reach the end of the park. Talking too much had always been a bit of a problem causer for her. "I went to Princeton and visited the city quite a lot during that time. My family lives in Concord, so Boston seemed like the obvious choice for me after graduation. After a while, I finally realized this actually was my dream, and now I'm here."

"This city can be harsh and beat you up in ways that you never imagined, but on days like this I realize why I'm still here." Danny said, looking to the distance with a somewhat nostalgic look on his face.

"Are you from the city originally?" Mindy asked as they continued walking together around the park in a quiet agreement.

"I'm from Staten Island. I got a scholarship to Columbia, moved here and ended up staying here for a job".

"Columbia… that's fancy" Mindy said and smiled.

"I guess I could say the same about Princeton" Danny said and took the chair from Mindy. "Hey, this might sound weird, but are you hungry?"

"Hungry? I guess I could eat…", Mindy said, both confused and happy about this sudden turn of events.

"Well, since you're new to the city, I think I should probably do my duty as a New Yorker and introduce you to the best pizza in the city… If you don't mind, I would just like to drop my stuff at the office first."

"I don't that mind at all", Mindy said and kept walking next to Danny. They spent most of the walk to the office in silence – it wasn't the awkward type of silence when you both know you have nothing to talk about, but you just try to stay civil and see what is going to happen. It was the special type of silence two people can share, the type of silence you share with someone you can be comfortable with, someone who knows what you think without you having had to say it. Neither Mindy nor Danny understood what the silence meant or realized how special and good it felt, but it was there, quiet, eerie and visible to those who have felt the same type of silence with that one special person.

"After you", Danny said as the elevator doors opened at the ground floor of the building of the clinic. Mindy stepped into the elevator, followed by Danny, who pushed the button to the right floor. "The office should be empty now, I'll just drop these in and we can go", Danny said, softly strumming his fingers against the fold-out chair leaning against his leg. Mindy nodded her head, smiling in agreement. Once the elevator reached the floor of the clinic, Mindy stayed at the reception area, waiting for Danny who walked straight into his own office.

"Excuse me miss, was that Danny Castellano who just walked in?" Mindy heard a male voice asking behind her. She turned around and became face to face with a dashing, suit-clad man with blond hair and a dazzling smile on his face. Mindy inhaled audibly before being able to respond anything. "Yes, yes it was", Mindy said, nervous and giddy. "I've been trying to reach him for hours… I guess he has left his phone somewhere." The man said, still smiling in a way only incredibly hot movie stars smile just before they propose to the woman of their dreams. Mindy's mind started to go through her favourite romantic comedies with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, with her as Meg Ryan and this mystery man as Tom Hanks. "Are you his girlfriend", the man asked Mindy. Mindy, still partly in her own fantasy world, answered with much enthusiasm. "No, not at all… I'm actually his patient. We ran to each other in the park and decided to have some pizza. I'm new to the city and he said that it is his duty as a New Yorker to show me the best pizza place in the city" Mindy babbled on nervously, her hands getting clammy and her cheeks hot. "Wow, you talk a lot… I like that", the guy said, with a shy looking smile on his face. 'He must actually practice that smile in front of his mirror or something', Mindy thought, trying to remain calm.

"Cliff, what are you doing here?" Danny asked when he saw the man talking to Mindy. Cliff, Cliff. Perfect Cliff. "I've been trying to call you since the morning. I need that paper for the file today, I have the meeting early tomorrow morning", Cliff said and before he even finished with his sentence, Danny handed him a paper from the reception desk. At that moment, a song by Beyoncé started to blast in the office. Mindy looked around, realizing it was Cliff's phone that made the sound. "Sorry, I need to take this… Just a sec", Cliff said, walking towards the back of the reception area, talking quietly to his phone. Mindy was speechless - a guy with a Beyoncé song as a ringtone. A clearly not gay guy with a love for Beyoncé.

"That was my sister… She made that song her personal ringtone and I never had the heart to change it – I guess I secretly like that song", Cliff said, still smiling. Did this guy ever not smile? Mindy wanted to find out. Before Mindy had a change to rave about her love for Beyoncé, Danny said: "I can't believe the stuff young people listen to these days". He shook his head in distaste and started to organize the papers on the reception desk. Mindy looked at him with new eyes, eyes that preferred Cliff. Eyes that were still blind to what was right in front of them.

"Silly me, I did not even introduce me. I'm Cliff. I work in the building in a legal company", Cliff said, extending his hand for a shake. Mindy took the hand, and though there were no fireworks or instant chemistry, she felt giddy. "I'm Mindy", she said and smiled, still holding on to Cliff's hand. After a quiet moment, Danny cleared his throat and Mindy and Cliff finally let go. "Mindy, are you ready to go?" Danny asked. Though it was not visible to Mindy and Cliff, Danny felt jealous. He did not understand why, but he did. The way he saw Mindy looking at Cliff was the way he wanted someone to look at him. What he did not realize yet was that it was the way he wanted not just any woman to look at him – it was the way he wanted Mindy to look at him.

"Yeah, sorry…" Mindy said, smiling at Cliff and following Danny to the elevator.

"Mindy, it was good to meet you. I hope I see you around", Cliff said, winking his eye to Mindy and then turning his back to the elevator. Mindy caught her breath and smiled. She congratulated herself for making the decision to go outside.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tony, can I have two slices of pepperoni?" Danny said to the elderly Italian man once they sat down. The small restaurant in Little Italy was filled with small round tables with red and white table covers and a red candle in the middle of the table. Soft music was playing in the background – the setting was strangely romantic, and Mindy was not sure how to behave, especially because she wanted to ask about Cliff and whether Danny knows if he is single. Like a mind reader, Danny brought up the issue before Mindy had time to gather the courage to ask the question.

"Cliff is single. I'll give him your number if you want to", Danny said, trying to hide the annoyance he was feeling from his voice.

Mindy, trying to act surprised, reacted by telling Danny that he should do so, but only if it was no problem. Danny grunted quietly, clearly willing to change the topic of discussion.

"So, how long have you been at the clinic?" Mindy asked, moving back to a more neutral topic of discussion. It was clear Danny did not want to talk more about Cliff. "I did my residency with Dr. Shulman and got a position from his clinic. Dr. Shulman has retired now, so the responsibility of the clinic is on the shoulders of myself and my colleague Dr Reed", Danny said, not pompously, but clearly in a way that showed that he was proud of his achievements. "Hey, that sounds amazing! My mom was a gynaecologist", Mindy said, a sudden sadness filling her mind. With a smile, she tried to push that sadness away – this day had been a happy one, there was no need now to bring up sad issues like the loss of her mother.

"So, what do you do? I know you are starting a new job, but I have no idea what you actually do", Danny said after Tony brought the steaming slices of pepperoni pizza and two glasses of lemonade to the table. The pizza looked amazing – the cheese was perfectly melted and the smell was to die for. Mindy took a bite, almost moaning at the taste – it was the best pizza she had ever had. Danny smiled, clearly knowing what Mindy was thinking. After swallowing that first, little piece of heaven, Mindy responded to Danny's question. "I'm actually a doctor as well. I went to medical school at Princeton and practiced medicine at Boston, but I'm here now to take up a research position at NYU Langone Medical Center", Mindy said, happy to see Danny's eyes starting to sparkle with interest. "I specialize in orthopaedic medicine", Mindy continued.

"Langone Medical Center… I am impressed", Danny said, looking at Mindy with a whole perspective. He had found her interesting and quite beautiful before, but now he saw in front of him someone who must also be extremely talented, intelligent and driven. "As nerdy as it sounds, being able to do research in one of the best hospitals in the country has always been my dream and now I finally have a chance to do it", Mindy said, savouring the slice of pizza slowly. "I get that… I was bit of a problem child, but always good in school. Kids from Staten rarely leave the place, but I was determined to become something, most importantly a role model for my brother", Danny said, "that scholarship for Columbia is still the best thing that has happened to me".

"My mother was so proud of me when I got to Princeton. She herself studied in India, and it was a big deal for my family that their daughter got into a school as prestigious as Princeton. My brother now goes to Stanford but it is clear that his interests might be somewhere else than in medicine and science".

"My brother Richie lives out of state – I pretty much raised him up and at one point actually had to cut him off in order to get him to grow up and take control of his life."

"What about your parents?" Mindy asked, curious to know why Danny would be responsible for his brother.

"My ma worked insane hours as a cleaning lady. My dad left when I was 13. He was a good for nothing slacker and I think it was better of Richie not to have him as a role model growing up. I was not the best role model either, but at least I'm still here", Danny said, that melancholy he had in his voice when he sung coming back.

"Your dad used to sing you 'piano man', right?" Mindy said, surprised of her own bravery to ask about such a private matter. Danny looked up at her, straight into her eyes, as if trying to read what she was thinking. No one had looked at Mindy quite that way before. "Yes". Danny's answer was short and direct, but the way he said it made it clear for Mindy that there was much more in the story than just a father singing a song to his son. That song meant something special for Danny, something that was none of Mindy's business. She smiled, once again telling Danny that she thought his version of the song was beautiful, and then left that topic to be.

Mindy and Danny finished their pizzas in silence, and though Mindy said she was alright getting home by herself, Danny insisted taking her there, just to be safe.

"Thank you so much for all of this, I didn't expect this day would turn out to be so eventful", Mindy said, smiling. They were standing outside Mindy's building and though the night was already getting dark, the city was lit by the lights of thousands of buildings and advertisements. "I can't believe you live in this building… I used to live in the building across when I first started with the practice. I now live only a couple of blocks away", Danny said, looking at the building behind Mindy.

"Really?" Mindy said, not quite knowing how to respond.

"Hmm…" Danny said quietly, turning his gaze to Mindy and keeping it there. Mindy was feeling something she had not felt before – it was not the nervous, giddy feeling she had when Cliff had looked at her before. It was a feeling of calm, a feeling of normalcy but also excitement, a feeling of trust. A feeling she did not know how to interpret. "Danny… If you want to hang around sometimes or something, just…. You can get my number from my files, right?" Mindy said, suddenly very nervous. She did not want to seem too enthusiastic, but she did have a good time with Danny and the conversation had flowed easily – it wasn't a date or anything, but she did feel like she would like to have Danny as a friend, someone in the city she could occasionally spend time with. Without saying a word, Danny reached for his pocket and handed his phone to Mindy. Mindy looked at Danny before typing her number there. He took the phone from here, typed in the name and showed the screen for her. Above her number it said "Min".

"You already have a Mindy there?", Mindy asked, actually quite touched by the little nickname.

"No, I just like it like that", Danny said.

"I like it like that too. Thanks again. And I hope to see you soon", Mindy said.

"Me too."

"Bye Danny"

"Bye Min"


	5. Chapter 5

Mindy was just gathering together her files after a long day at the lab when her phone started ringing in the pocket of her brand new NYU Langone lab coat. It was day three at her new job and so far things were going great. Most of her colleagues were elderly men, so forming a relationship other than a professional one with them was not highly probable. But there was a new fertility researcher Anna at the clinic with whom Mindy had had a lunch with and who had asked Mindy for drinks after Friday's meeting for all of the research departments. "Dr. Mindy Lahiri speaking, how may I help you?" Mindy answered. She did not usually answer her phone quite as formally, but since she did not recognize the number she thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Doctor... that's fancy"

"Excuse me, who is this?" Mindy asked confused.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I was so blinded by your introduction. It's Cliff. The lawyer guy… from the clinic. Danny said that he asked you whether it was okay for him to give your number to me..."

To be completely honest, in the hurry of the past couple of days, Mindy had kind of forgotten Cliff and even laughed with Anna about her reaction to this guy she knew nothing about; except that he was a lawyer and that his sister liked Beyoncé. But the moment Mindy realized it was him at the other end of the phone, she got all giddy, imagining that dazzling smile on his face.

"Oh hey Cliff, how are you?" Mindy said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"I'm alright. And how are you, Doc?" Mindy sensed from Cliff's voice that he was clearly trying to flirt with her over the phone lines.

"I'm good, just packing away my stuff for the day"

"What would you say for a drink?"

"Right now?"

"Well, in an hour or so?"

"I would say yes"

Mindy agreed to meet Cliff in a very fancy bar uptown. She was happy she had decided to wear a dress in the morning - a black and white knitted one which matched well with her leather boots. She walked into the surprisingly crowded bar - since it was only a Wednesday, she thought places would be a little less occupied. But New York was always crowded, Mindy reminded herself. Cliff saw her walking in and got up from his seat to greet her. "Mindy, you look great", Cliff said and kissed Mindy on the cheek. Mindy smiled and looked at Cliff, who looked even better than couple of days ago when she first met him. He was wearing a pair of black pants and a white dress shirt with a couple of buttons open.

"Thank you Cliff, you don't look so bad either", Mindy said and sat down to the seat Cliff offered her. When the waiter came to the table, Cliff ordered a scotch, Mindy a glass of white wine.

"So Mindy, what kind of doctor are you?", Cliff asked. "I practiced Orthopaedic surgery at Boston, but I'm now working with a research team at the NYU Langone medical institute". Cliff nodded, but didn't seem to have anything further to ask, so Mindy decided the polite thing would be to ask him about his job. His response was lengthy and Mindy listened to Cliff, trying to look as interested as possible. But as it started to dawn on Mindy that Cliff could talk about his job for hours and hours, she decided it would be best to try and steer the conversation to something else.

"So Cliff, how long have you been working in the same building with Danny?" Mindy had no idea why she decided to bring Danny into the conversation. In the past couple of days she had actually been thinking a lot more of Danny than Cliff. Not in a romantic way - she just felt like Danny was someone she connected with and wanted to know more about.

"For about two years now... Danny's an interesting guy, a lot more closed off after his divorce."

Divorce? That came as news for Mindy. They had not really talked about possible girlfriends/boyfriends together, but Mindy had somehow always thought that he was a single. "One of the nurses from the clinic told me that the divorce was a bit messy - Danny caught his wife having sex with another guy", Cliff continued.

"Really? Oh my god..." Mindy said, shocked about Cliff's words. "Poor Danny", she continued quietly.

"Well, he's a big guy, I bet he can handle himself", Cliff responsed, clearly eager to change the topic. Mindy didn't know what to say - she suddenly felt like she did not even want to be there anymore, but just to go home.

"Do you have any plans for Friday? My company is having a little party at the office." Cliff said and took the last swig from his scotch.

"I agreed to have drinks with my colleague Anna. What time is your party?"

"Around seven. You can bring your friend along if you want to."

Mindy was relieved by the offer to include Anna in the plans as well. Though she found Cliff extremely attractive and interesting, there was something about him that made her uneasy. Maybe it was because she did not really know him yet. Or maybe because of the information he had given about Danny. What Mindy did not even consider was the fact that maybe the uneasiness was there because she was having drinks with the wrong guy.

Mindy took a cab from the bar to the small grocery store close to her apartment. She filled her basket with breakfast items such as milk and cereal, as well as some ice-cream and a bottle of wine for the night. She did not have to be at the hospital until 1pm the next day, so she planned on watching a film and having a couple of glasses of wine. She paid her items and on the walk home, couldn't shake Danny away from her mind. Though she had sensed that he was a bit closed up and very private, she saw that he was a good guy and probably an amazing boyfriend or husband – he seemed very passionate, protective and trustworthy. Now knowing that Danny had been married and cheated on made Mindy wonder why someone would cheat if she was with a guy like Danny and how Danny must have felt when he found out.

When Mindy reached the street her apartment was located at, she noticed the warning lights of fire trucks shining brightly right in front of her building. She started to run towards her home and once she got closer, she realized that a lot of her neighbours where standing outside behind a bright yellow fence.

"What is going on?" Mindy asked from a fireman standing close to a fire truck close to the mass of people.

"There was a minor fire in one the apartments. We should have more information once the firemen get out of the building."

Mindy looked around and dropped her bag of groceries on the ground. The ice-cream would melt soon if she did not get inside. She started to panic that it was her apartment that the fire was in just when the fireman got out and announced that the fire had been in a floor below hers.

"Unfortunately there is still a lot of smoke in the apartments within close proximity to the one where the fire took place. Also the hallways and the elevator have been damaged by smoke, and thus we cannot let you in before we get some of that smoke aired out. We recommend you find a place to stay in for the night and come back in the morning. We gathered wallets and phones from the places you mentioned to us before and you can collect them from my colleague here", the man said, pointing at the fireman on his left. "If you do not have a place to stay, please come here and we will inform the building manager and he will find you one. But we suggest that you call a friend or a relative who could take you in for just the night."

People started to move around, some getting their phones from their pockets, some their items from the fireman. Mindy had no idea what to do. She could go and tell she did not have a place to stay, and the building manager would find her one. But that seemed like a whole lot of trouble. She could go to the lab and stay there for the night – she would not probably get any sleep, but at least she could work. She could also just get a hotel room from somewhere. In the middle of all these thoughts, Mindy reached for her phone from her purse and dialled the person she believed would be the most helpful during a situation like this.

"Hello", a groaning voice answered.

"Oh my god, were you asleep?"

"Yeah, but it's alright. What's up?"

"I hate to ask this since we barely know each other, but there was a fire in my building and they said we should find someone we can stay with for like a couple of hours before they let us in again."

"Are you alright?"

"I just need to stay somewhere until I can go back to work and I know you live close by and I just…" Mindy started to panic, the fact that the fire could have been a lot worse hitting her hard.

"Hey, calm down… Please tell me are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… As I said I just need…"

"I'll come and get you."

"You really don't have to… I can just walk over or something. I really can't say how grateful I am… I…"

"Just wait there. Min, I'll be there in three minutes."

"Thank you Danny"


	6. Chapter 6

Danny saw Mindy setting on the curb across from her apartment with a plastic bag next to her. She looked tired and somewhat miserable. He had run the whole way from his apartment to Mindy's since he was not quite sure whether she was alright. She had insisted so on the phone, but he thought that it probably dawned on Mindy during the call that the fire could have been worse than it was. For some reason, he felt very protective towards Mindy. As a doctor, he felt protective towards pretty much everyone and wanted to help if it was only possible, but there was something in Mindy that made him more alert, more ready, more willing to go the extra mile.

Mindy saw Danny running towards her and in a haste tried to rub the tears away from her cheeks. The long day at work, the drinks with Cliff and the fire had caused a complete meltdown, one that Mindy had been waiting for since she left Boston. Though Boston was not far away, leaving her home had been extremely hard – especially now that it was only her father she left behind. She got up, picked up her plastic bag and stood there, watching Danny approaching her. Without saying a word, Danny hugged Mindy. Though they were still almost strangers to each other, Mindy got comfort from the hug. The act was out of Danny's character, but it felt right at the moment.

"Are you alright?" Danny asked, looking at Mindy. She looked tired, and Danny was able to see the traces of tears on her cheek, tears that she tried to hide.

"Yeah, I am now. Thanks." Mindy said. Danny took the plastic bag from Mindy and without a word they started to walk towards Danny's apartment.

"I was just preparing some dinner. Are you hungry?" Danny asked, swinging the plastic bag slowly while walking.

"You cook?" Mindy asked, smiling. For some reason she had a hard time imaging Danny into a kitchen.

"Of course I do. My ma taught me all of the best recipes. I was just making pasta Bolognese with home baked bread and garlic butter", Danny said, casually.

"Are you serious?"

"Why's that so hard for you to believe?" Danny said, laughing.

"Maybe because I thought no one in New York cooks. At least Sex and the City makes it seem so."

"Sex and the City… every woman's guide to New York", Danny said, attempting to sound annoyed but Mindy knew he was just kidding.

"Well, you know who wouldn't want to spend their days having brunches with friends and nights having dates with hot guys?"

"That is a very existential question worth of more discussion."

"I can see that you're a massive Sex and the City fan?"

"I am more of a 'Fish Warrior' type of guy."

"Fish Warrior? Is that an actual show?"

"You haven't heard about it?" Danny asked, trying to seem surprised.

"Well of course I have, I was just kidding… it is like my favourite show ever." Mindy said, not being able to control her laughter.

"I was lying too about Sex and the City. I am a total Carrie." Danny said, giving a side glance to the laughing Mindy.

"I'm a Carrie too!" Mindy exclaimed enthusiastically, pushing Danny softly. Danny pushed Mindy back and they both started laughing.

"So, welcome", Danny said after he opened the door to his apartment. His place was nothing like Mindy expected either. Danny was full of surprises. It was tastefully decorated and almost looked like it could have been done by a professional – but there was that very special, small touch that made it clear Danny had done it himself. Everything was well organized and the space was neither too crowded nor too empty.

"Danny, your home is beautiful. Thank you once again for letting me to stay here for a while", Mindy said, still standing right next to the door, taking everything in.

"Please, come in." Danny said and walked to the large, open kitchen.

"It smells amazing in here", Mindy said, walking in to the kitchen area. Danny took a wine glass from a storage cabinet and a bottle of white wine from a small wine refrigerator next to his normal fridge. He poured the wine to the glass and handed it to Mindy without saying a word.

"I really needed this, thank you", Mindy said, taking a sip of the wine.

"I figured that you could use a glass", Danny said. "I'm sorry to inform you that the ice-cream from your bag is completely melted. It is not probably as good as the one you had, but I have some homemade sorbet in the freezer".

"Danny, how can you still be single?" Mindy blurted out before realizing that they had not really talked about Danny's relationship status before.

"How do you know I'm single?" Danny said, stirring the pasta sauce on a large pan.

"I just… I figured. This place lacks a touch of a woman", Mindy said, trying to come up with some sort of explanation.

"Mmm… I'm just very devoted to my work." Danny said.

"I actually had drinks with Cliff tonight", Mindy said.

"Cliff from the building?" Danny asked, though he knew who she was talking about.

"Yeah…. He took me to this fancy bar uptown called something like Pulse or Spot or something similar", Mindy said, sipping on her wine.

"Cliff is a good guy", Danny said.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You didn't hit it off?"

"No, it's not exactly that…It's just that I don't really know him well yet. Our conversation didn't really flow well", Mindy said, realizing that the type of conversation she had right now with Danny was the type of conversation she wanted to have with Cliff as well.

"Just give him a second chance; just see if the conversation flows. At least then you have no regrets later on", Danny said, stuffing the pieces of bread with garlic butter.

"Danny, you're like a Yoda or something, all smart, calm and connected."

"You should see me when I am all Italian and temperamental."

"I'll look forward to that."

"I'll give you a call next time I feel temperamental" Danny said and transferred a big pile of pasta to a serving dish. Mindy watched in silence as Danny covered the pasta with the sauce and placed the pieces of bread on a plate. He took a plate from a cabinet and offered it to Mindy. Mindy got up, went to the other side of the kitchen island, and standing close to Danny, piled her plate with pasta, sauce and pieces of bread. She was so close to Danny she was able to smell his cologne and shampoo – nice, masculine and a little bit musky. From where she was standing, she was also able to see how incredibly long Danny's eyelashes were and how good the little stubble looked on him. Gathering her thoughts away from Danny, she moved back to her seat and tasted the food.

"Oh my God…. This is so good", Mindy said, "Are you trying to get me fat? Didn't you just say I in my check-up that I should lose some weight?"

"Mindy, that was your doctor speaking. I think you're good" Danny said, taking a moment before continuing "yeah, you're good". Mindy blushed lightly and tried to hide it by staring at her food. She did not want to make the situation more awkward, so she did not say anything. Did Danny just compliment her in a way that could be read as flirting? Or was she just overestimating the situation?

"I don't know whether you are an artsy type of anything, but I have tickets to this art show on Saturday and I was wondering if you maybe would like to come." Danny said, continuing without Mindy had a chance to say anything. "Don't worry; it's not a date or anything. I'm not the type of guy who takes a girl from another guy." Sudden sadness filled his voice when he talked about guys who take someone's girl. Danny had no idea that Mindy knew about his divorce, but she was able to sense that it was what Danny was talking about.

"Really? I would love to…" Mindy said "and Danny, you're not taking me from anyone", Mindy continued – for some reason she wanted to make clear it for Danny that she and Cliff were nowhere near an item.

"Do you mind if I take a shower? I feel like I smell like smoke from sitting right in front of the building", Mindy says after gathering courage to ask about a shower for an hour. Mindy had no idea why she was so coy around Danny – it was not like she had never been only partly clad in front of a man. Hell, just a while ago she had had her legs opened for Danny right after he had felt her breasts. But there was a huge difference between a doctor's check-up and a so-called normal situation between man and a woman, which Mindy knew as a doctor. Back in Boston she had been a doctor of a local baseball player who broke his hip. That of course meant that she saw the guy without pants pretty much every day for weeks. But when he was finally discharged and he actually asked Mindy on a date, it wasn't the same anymore – she just couldn't tell him to drop off his pants and go to town. And she was not ready to drop off her pants right away either. She ended up dating Mark for almost four months, but then he transferred teams and ended up relocating to Florida. A week after Mark left, Mindy's mother passed away and there was no time for Mindy to think about nurturing a long distance relationship.

"Of course not – I'll give you a towel and a t-shirt or something to wear so you can put your clothes in a wash if you want to in order to get the smoke away". Before even finishing with his sentence, Danny was all action, looking for towels and t-shirts. He ended up handing Mindy a bath towel, a hand towel and a small towel for washing her face as well as four different t-shirts and sports shorts so she can pick out the ones she likes the most. It was quite obvious that if Danny had lady guests over, they were not there to take showers alone and hang out in his clothes without anything else happening. Mindy once again thanked Danny for all the trouble and went to the bathroom. The shower was one of those really big rain showers that Mindy had planned to buy herself too, and once she got into the almost steaming water, she was able to shake away some of the anxiety caused by the day. There was dandruff shampoo on the shelf in the shower – Mindy opened the bottle and smelled it, instantly getting into her mind the image of Danny leaning against his kitchen counter. Mindy quickly shut the bottle and tried to get her mind to something else. Using Danny's hand soap, she washed her skin in an attempt to get the smells of smoke and the city off her skin and then shut the shower. Having decided on a black t-shirt and a black pair of shorts, Mindy walked back into the living room.

"That shirt looks better on you than it does on me", Danny said, only afterwards realizing that the comment could be read as a very flirty and sexual. Mindy just laughed lightly and sat down next to Danny on the sofa.

"I can sleep on the sofa and you can sleep on my bed if you want to", Danny said.

"That's very gentlemanly of you, but I think I'm fine here" Mindy said, taking the TV remote and switching the television on. After surfing through the channels, she ended up on one showing 'You've Got Mail'.

"This is like my favourite film ever" Mindy said.

"Is this the one with Tom Hanks just sending silly emails and hanging out with his dog?" Danny asked

"Those emails are romantic. Just think of it – they find each other from a city filled with millions of people and don't even first realize that they are meant to be together. They cling to these ideas of individuals they have only talked though Internet, not being brave enough to take the risk and falling in love. What makes it even more romantic is that Tom Hanks's character knows it is her he has been talking to, whereas she just hopes that her secret Internet crush would actually be him" Mindy said, once again reliving the happiness the film gave her the first time she saw it.

"You must have seen this so many times", Danny said, slightly shaking his head but still keeping his eye tightly on the TV screen, following the events.

"In the film Meg Ryan's character says she has read Pride and Prejudice probably 200 times. I can proudly say I'm probably getting close to those numbers at some point in my life with this film"

"200 times? The Godfather… that you can watch 200 times. But not this" Danny said.

"The Godfather? Why do men always prefer the Godfather?"

"Didn't Tom Hanks give you an answer for that in the film?"

"Yeah, it was something about the mattresses" Mindy says.

"Yeah, it's all about the mattresses", Danny says.


	7. Chapter 7

Mindy woke up to the smell of dark roasted coffee, for a short instant forgetting where she was. She stared in the ceiling high above her, the events of the previous day coming back to her mind – the date with Cliff, the fire, the dinner with Danny, the film. She remembered everything else except what happened right before she fell asleep. She closed her eyes and tried her best to come up with a recollection of the events of the night, but the only thing she was able to think about was the dream she had seen. A dream so unexpected, yet so wonderful. A dream that put a smile on her face. A dream in which she had been happy. A dream in which she had been kissing someone – someone with a brown hair and a crooked smile, someone who made elaborate pasta dinners, someone who been there for her when she needed help.

Danny was standing in the kitchen, finishing his morning coffee when he saw Mindy stir on the sofa, opening her eyes for a short while. She looked calm and well rested, and there was a smile on her face. A memory of the previous night made Danny smile. They had been watching a film Mindy had seen several times before and though she knew the conclusion, she had cried when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan finally got each other, desperately trying to hide her tears. Danny had pretended that he did not notice, soon excusing himself to take a shower. Danny went to his bedroom and while removing his clothes started to think about the previous times he had had a woman over at his places after his divorce - there definitely had not been film watching involved. And the guest had not slept on the couch. Since he caught Christina cheating on him, it had not even occurred to him to have a woman over for nothing else than a quick hook-up, little less having women over as just a friend. But for the first time since his heart had been broken, he felt like he could actually trust a woman, if only as a friend - not just any woman, only the funny, somewhat silly, independent and intelligent woman in the next room. Mindy was the complete opposite of Christina, and though Danny had once thought Christina was the ideal woman for him, the ideal "type", the fact that Mindy was different made him even more intrigued about her. Christina was very intense and sometimes difficult to be with, whereas Mindy was extremely easy to be with – she was serious, but also very funny; intelligent, but not pretentious; confident, but also somewhat shy; cute, but also extremely beautiful. What Danny was really surprised about was that for the first time since his divorce, he had met someone he did not want to mess things up with, someone he did not want to just have sex with and then forget. He had met someone he wanted to be friends with.

'You don't think about your other friends naked'. The thought just popped into Danny's mind, who was now completely undressed and just standing in the middle of his bedroom. It was true, he did not think of his other friends naked, but there was nothing he was able to do to get rid of the thought of Mindy. And deep down he did not even want to. He knew she was interested in Cliff and seemed to show no interest in him other than as a friend, but he could not help but to think of the way she had smelt when he hugged her outside her apartment – like perfume and smoke- or the way she had quietly moaned when she had the first taste of her dinner. He felt touched by the fact that she had chosen him as the person she decided to call when she was in trouble, and the way she had cried during that romantic moment in the film made his heart melt a little.

"Daniel Castellano, get yourself together", Danny said out loud and walked into the bathroom. He put the shower on, noticing that the lid of his shampoo was open. He was a total control freak when it came to things like that, so he knew Mindy must have touched it. He squeezed a small doze of shampoo into his palm and while lathering it in his hair, thought about the way things would be if Mindy would be there not just as a friend. She would definitely be in the shower with him. She would maybe be the one now lathering the shampoo on his hair, probably making jokes about the fact that he needed to use dandruff shampoo. Danny would pretend to be upset, but then just laugh and enjoy the moment. Danny was getting too distracted for his own comfort. He started to think about work, but right away his thoughts turned first to his next day's patient meetings and from patients right back to Mindy. Frustrated, Danny turned off the shower and dressed in a hurry, not trusting himself with his thoughts anymore.

When Danny got back to the living room, barefoot and with his towel hanging around his shoulders, little droplets of water falling from his hair to his neck, he noticed that Mindy was softly snoring on the cough, still in a sitting position. Danny softly lifted her up and placed her in a proper sleeping position, placing a pillow under her head and covering her with a blanket. She looked so peaceful and content, like there were no worries in the world. Her eyelids were moving a bit and she was pouting her lips, like kissing someone in a dream.


	8. Chapter 8

Mindy's phone started to ring and buzz on the living room table. It was Cliff.

"Hello?" Mindy answered, still somewhat groggy from sleep and now aware of Danny's presence in the room.

"Hey cutie. Just wanted to call and ask how you are?" Cliff said, with honey in his voice. Mindy instantly got alerted, thinking of how she had practically been encouraged by Danny to give Cliff a new chance.

"That's so nice of you – I'm good. And yourself?" Mindy said, not wanting to make the phone call too personal knowing that Danny was in the room.

"I'm good. I had a really good time last night."

"Me too, I'm really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Good, good. Well, I guess I'll let you get on with your morning. See you tomorrow Mindy."

"Bye Cliff".

She hung up the phone and got up from the couch. The whole call felt awkward and forced to her – she felt like she did not know what to say. When she was face to face with Cliff she was giddy just because he was physically so handsome and on paper sounded like the perfect guy. But Mindy felt that something was definitely missing, and if that something was not found soon, she realized she just might be wasting her time. She was already over 30 and having reached a point in her career she was happy about, she knew it was time for her to start to take her relationships as seriously as her job.

"Good morning", Mindy said to Danny. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, wearing a hoodie with the zipper open over his naked upper body and Mindy couldn't help herself from looking. From what she was able to see, his chest and abs looked extremely toned – not too muscular, but just perfect. Danny offered her a cup of coffee with a grin on his face.

"Did you have a good dream?" Danny asked and chuckled. Mindy blushed, once again going back to those dream-kisses she had been sharing with the very man asking about her dream. "Did Cliff get you with a white horse and take you to a Beyoncé concert?"

"That actually sounds like the perfect date, but no, there was no Cliff in my dreams." Mindy said, thinking of what Danny would say if she actually told the truth and told him that she had been dreaming about him – his eyes intensively and passionately looking into hers, his hands wondering around her body, his lips enclosing hers for a long, perfect kiss.

"That's too bad", Danny said, looking at Mindy, trying hard to figure out what was going on in her mind. For some reason he got really nervous about things such as whether she had a good time or whether she was still on for the art gallery opening he had asked her about. Danny noticed that he yearned to spend more time with Mindy – he wanted to know about her childhood, her friends, her family. He wanted to hear about her dreams and goals, her favourite books and places to visit, her fears and losses, her successes. And what was most surprising to Danny was the fact that he wanted to share those things about himself with Mindy. Getting so deep into his thoughts, Danny did not realize that Mindy was trying to talk to him.

"Earth to Daniel Castellano", she was saying, waving her hand in front of his eyes.

"Sorry", Danny said, standing up and trying to look busy.

"That must have been a one deep thought. What were you thinking about?" Mindy asked, realizing that it never came to her mind to ask Cliff what he was thinking about – maybe because she did not just realize it, but more likely because she felt like she was able to read Cliff like an open book – he was handsome and successful, funny and flirty and it seemed to Mindy that he usually got what he wanted, whereas Danny, though open and funny and extremely helpful, seemed like a mystery. They had not known each other for a long time, that was true, but it felt like she knew very little about Danny's thoughts, his past, his aspirations, definitely less than he knew about hers. She knew about the divorce, but only through Cliff, and there was no way she was going to ask about it, they were not that close yet. But once again Mindy realized that she did want to reach that level of closeness with Danny at some point – she did want to be his friend, very much so.

"Oh, this and that. Work, future plans, last night", Danny said, adding the last night there just to see whether Mindy catches that.

"I was thinking of last night too. I had a really good time Danny – it is funny I had a lot better time here than on my date. And again I want to thank you for taking me in on such a short notice. I owe you one".

"I had a really good time too, and hey, you don't own me anything."

"I think I do and you'll just have to accept that even though you seem like the guy who does not like surprises or gifts."

"Dr. Lahiri, you are reading me like an open book" Danny said and continued "now if you excuse me, I'll go and change. I took your clothes out of the dryer and placed them to that table right there", Danny said, pointing to a table to which a neat pile of clothes had been folded. Danny went to his bedroom and Mindy walked over to the pile of clothes, laughing at the way Danny had placed her bra on top of the pile – it was not folded, but actually displayed like in a store or something. A giggle escaped Mindy's mouth. 'Come on, it's not like he has never seen a bra before', Mindy thought and moved to the little room next to the living room to change her clothes. She had not been in that room last night, but right away she was able to see it was Danny's library/office. The walls were covered with bookshelves and his keyboard was placed at one of the corners of the room. There was a big mahogany desk in front of a large window with well-organized piles of paper and a laptop. Mindy placed the pile of clothes to a comfortable looking armchair and started to undress. First taking off her shirt, she wiggled on her bra. After slipping into her clean, fresh smelling dress she started to look around the book shelf suddenly coming across a picture frame that had been pushed behind a set of books. Mindy took the frame and saw a picture of Danny smiling radiantly next to a beautiful, blond woman. In the picture Danny was looking at the woman, and Mindy was able to see from his eyes that he loved, or had loved, that woman very much. 'This must be his ex-wife. She is gorgeous', Mindy thought to herself, not being able to divert her eyes from the picture. She had no idea for how long she had been staring at the picture when Danny walked into the room and saw what she was looking at.

"Where did you find that?" Danny asked, sounding somewhat demanding and upset.

Before Mindy was able to say anything, Danny forcefully took the picture from her and placed it in the trash can next to his desk.

"I thought I got rid of that." Danny said, more to himself than to Mindy. "Are you ready? I really need to be getting to work. I called your building and they said it's okay for you to go back now" Danny said snappily.

"I'm sorry Danny… And thank you for doing that… Thank you for calling, I mean.", Mindy said, quickly folding the t-shirt and the shorts she had used and placing them on the arm chair. Walking out from the office, she accidentally grazed Danny's arm softly with her own. Mindy felt a warm current running through her body – Danny was able to feel the same. Unfortunately both read it wrong, not realizing what it actually meant – Danny thought it was pity, Mindy thought it was consolidation. Actually, it was chemistry.


	9. Chapter 9

"Doctor Castellano, your three o'clock patient called and rescheduled her appointment", Betsy, the receptionist for Danny and his colleague Jeremy Reed announced.

"Thank you Betsy", Danny said, walking into the break room where Jeremy was just having his lunch.

"Well hello Danny boy. How are you?" Jeremy said, lifting his gaze from the book he was reading to Danny who was scavenging through the fridge for something to eat.

"I'm good, you know. Just didn't have much of sleep", Danny said.

"Did you have one of your lady friends over?" Jeremy asked with intrigue in his voice.

"I actually did have a lady friend over, but not for the type of activities you think", Danny said and sat down opposite to Jeremy.

"Your mother was in town?"

"My mother? What are you talking about?"

"Well, you don't have a sister. So it can only be your mother if it was for something else than sex?"

"Jeremy, how often do you think I have ladies over for sex? You make it sound like it happens all the time."

"Well not maybe as often as me, but still, you are a handsome, young and successful doctor, so I guess it should be like once a week?"

"Once a week? That's not often for you? More like once every three months…" Danny said, stuffing his face with salad. Right after his divorce he had been going on with a phase of more than once a week for a couple of months, but then he had realized he was not a young man anymore, and that he actually did want to be in a relationship with someone. It was just hard for him to trust women, almost impossible, so relationships we kind of off the table.

"Oh Danny, now I know why you are always so grumpy… So who was this lady friend?"

"You remember I told you about that new patient I have?" Danny asked, looking at Jeremy for a sign of recollection.

"You are going out with a patient?" Jeremy asked, alarmed.

"First of all, we are not going out. But yes, she is a patient, but our becoming kind of friends did not happen at the clinic. I ran into her at the park and we ended up spending the day together. Last night she called me out of the blue and asked for a place to stay after a fire had taken a place in her apartment building. "

"So you just took this random woman just because you're a nice guy? Is she hideous or something, is that why you did not try to hit on her?"

"The thing is, though I haven't known her for a long time, I feel like I've known her for ages. She is so easy to talk to."

"So you like her, but she is hideous?" Jeremy asked, standing up to fill his coffee cup. Danny gave his cup to Jeremy to have it filled as well.

"She is not hideous."

"Well you kind of make it sound like that…"

"She actually is quite…. " Danny stopped midsentence, trying to find the perfect word with which to describe Mindy. She was beautiful, but on in the same way Christina had been. She had a beautiful body, not a model-like, but one that he would definitely appreciate. And even the thought of her eyes and smile made Danny smile. "Captivating. And fascinating. And most importantly, she is funny and intelligent."

"Danny, are you saying you like this girl? What is going on man? I thought your heart was made of stone?" Jeremy asked, giving his full attention to Danny. Danny was not used to this kind of conversation with Jeremy. They were friend, and usually shared stories about their so-called conquests, which Jeremy had for each finger and toe, but this felt more personal and honest. But after spending time with Mindy, Danny also felt more open, honest and ready to express his thoughts.

"I think I do. Yes, I do like her… very much."

"Have you told her so?"

"Oh no, I can't do that. She has made it quite clear to me that she is looking for a friend in the city. And she's kind of going out with Cliff. You should have seen the way she looked at him – like he packet of that ice-cream all women love, that Jerry and Ben or something like that, all creamy and filled with little cookie pieces."

"I think you mean Ben&Jerry's?"

"Well, whatever. There's no chance will ever be nothing but friends, but hey, I'm happy even with that if it means that I get to spend time with her and for the first time in a while spend time with a woman I actually want more than sex from."

"Man Danny, I don't know what to say."


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm so curious about meeting this Cliff guy and actually seeing whether he is as hot and perfect as you described him to be", Anna said. It was early Friday night and Mindy and Anna were sitting at the backseat of a cab on their way to the office party Cliff had invited Mindy to. Mindy laughed, telling Anna that she was also curious to hear what she would think about Cliff. Though Mindy was excited about the party and the possibility to of actually forming a connection with Cliff after that first, somewhat failed date, she felt like she was not fully there in that moment.

Since Mindy had left Danny's place the previous day she had felt bad about snooping around his office – she had been able to sense that seeing that picture had brought up painful memories for Danny, memories that he had mostly likely attempted to bury deep away from his thoughts. She had been pondering whether she should call Danny and thank him again about his help, but the feelings of guilt and not wanting to bother him had won. She wasn't even sure whether their plans were still on for the next day.

Mindy and Anna took the elevator to the floor of Cliff's office. Once the doors opened, they were able to see the hallways and the office space were filled with people with drinks in their hand. They walked through a crowded hallway area and arrived at the lobby of the law office. Mindy saw Cliff standing at the other end of the room, holding a can of beer in his hand, talking to a man in his 50s. He was laughing at the moment, his eyes shining and his hair on perfect soft curls that moved a bit when he threw his head back while laughing. Mindy touched Anna's hand slightly and nodded her head to the direction of Cliff.

"Hot Damn… Girl, he is a fine piece of mancandy", Anna said, with admiration in her voice. At that moment Cliff's eyes moved towards the hallway area and he caught eyes with Mindy. He smiled, excused himself and walked over.

"Mindy, so good to see you", Cliff said, kissing Mindy's cheek.

"Good to see you too, Cliff. I want you to meet my friend Anna" Mindy said. Cliff moved his eyes to Anna and it was clear that he was seeing something that he liked. Mindy was surprised how non-jealous or threatened she felt. She did think Cliff was handsome and successful and kind of perfect in many ways and even though she was somewhat interested in him, she really felt nothing.

"It's good to meet you, Anna", Cliff said, staring at her intensively. It was no wonder for Mindy why a man would find Anna desirable. She was blond, tall like a model, skinny but had a big chest, and most importantly, funny and intelligent. Mindy had connected with her right away and she was so happy about the fact that she had found a friend so easily from the city.

"So Mindy, what have you been up to?" Cliff said, moving his attention back her.

"Not much since the last time we talked. Just work mostly…" Mindy stopped half sentence when she saw Danny walk into the room wearing a pair of extremely well fitting jeans and a black t-shirt, over which he was wearing a grey hoodie. He was with a tall, extremely handsome brown haired man and they were laughing loudly, both carrying beer cans in their hands. Mindy was aware of the fact that Cliff was saying something, but she was only able to focus on Danny and how relaxed he looked. He was smiling that crooked smile again, clearly telling a joke or a story to his friend because he was moving his hands around fast, probably elaborating some of the points of the story. Suddenly Mindy felt like to be on that side of the room rather than the one she was in at the moment. After looking at Danny for a while without getting noticed, Danny moved his gaze around the room and his eyes caught Mindy's. He smiled and raised his hand, keeping his eyes on Mindy for a while before continuing with his story. Mindy snapped back to attention and realized that Cliff and Anna were laughing at something – she had no idea what they had been talking about.

"What would you ladies like to drink?" Cliff asked, lightly keeping his hand on Mindy's lower back while they were walking to the drinks table. Anna asked for a beer, and Mindy ended up with a red cup filled with white wine. "Cups like that bring up so many memories from college", Anna said and instantly Cliff agreed with her. Mindy, having not been a big party girl but actually more focused on her studies and watching romantic comedies in her dorm room, couldn't really agree with them and just ended up listening while they shared their wildest college party experiences. She was zoning of when she felt a firm touch on her shoulder, instantly knowing who it was.

"Mindy, it's good to see you", Danny said. He looked a bit tense at first, not sure how to greet Mindy, but then went for a hug. Right away Mindy's nostrils filled with that smell that she now associated with Danny – manly and musky, but also protective. He had hugged her outside her apartment after the fire and Mindy knew that is was due to this that the way Danny smelled made her feel protected, made her feel like she was with someone she can trust. He wrapped his toned arms around her and she was able to feel his heart beating through the fabric of Danny's t-shirt and the fabric of her dress. Once Danny was about to let her go, she moved her head a bit and kissed him on his cheek – he had probably shaved just before the party because his cheek felt all nice and smooth under her lips. Danny looked confused about the kiss and almost like he was blushing.

"A woman who can make Danny Castellano blush is a woman for my taste. I am honoured to meet you, you exquisite creature. I am Doctor Jeremy Reed", the handsome, tall guy she had seen Danny with said with a British accent and kissed her hand as a greeting.

"Well, aren't you a charmer. I'm Mindy"

"Mindy, the fire girl… I've heard about you. It seems you have quite bewitched this gloomy bastard's heart", Jeremy said, nodding towards Danny, slightly intoxicated.

"You pompous British ass, you're drunk", Danny said. Mindy laughed and said "Heard about me? Hopefully only good things?" Maybe this way she was able to hear whether Danny was mad at her about digging up that photo. The hug didn't indicate so, but she wanted to be sure.

"Oh darling, you should have heard the raving comments", Jeremy said, winking his eye at Mindy.

"Oookay, buddy, I think you should go out and clear your head a bit", Danny said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Hey guys, I didn't know you were coming", Cliff said to Jeremy and Danny while placing his hand around Mindy's shoulder in a somewhat possessive manner. Mindy was a bit taken back and uncomfortable about it , especially when she saw how Danny looked at Cliff's hand – he looked quite sad and defeated and like he trying to hide those feelings as best as he could.

"Pete invited us", Danny said coldly.

"So you are Danny… I'm Anna, Mindy's friend", Anna said, shaking hands with Danny. Mindy was able to see her slightly rub her finger against Danny's palm. Now Mindy felt defeated and surprisingly jealous all of a sudden.

"Hey Anna", Danny said, his eyes still somewhat focused on Mindy.

"I've heard so much about you and your chivalry." Anna said, clearly trying to flirt with Danny.

"It was nothing", Danny said, clearly trying to end the conversation with Anna.

"Mindy, can I actually talk to you for a moment?" Danny said, looking at Mindy intensively. Cliff increased his hold on Mindy but she moved away from his hold and nodded, following Danny outside to a little balcony. There was chill in the air, and Mindy started to shiver slightly in her dress – it was only September, but her dress was very thin fabric and the wind, bringing it with cold air, made her wish that Danny would have chosen another location for a chat.

"Hey, you must be cold", Danny said, removing his hoodie and putting it over Mindy's shoulders. She slipped her hands into the sleeves, snuggling in to the hoodie that smelled like Danny.

"You looked a bit uncomfortable back there, so you know…" Danny said, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

"Thank you Danny", Mindy said. They were quiet for a while, the air electrified by the things they both wanted to say, but didn't.

"Danny, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I should not have been snooping around your place. You were nice enough to let a half-stranger to stay at your place and then I go and ruin everything", Mindy said, looking at Danny's face for signs of response. He didn't smile, but didn't look angry either.

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I was way over the line being so snappy at you", Danny said. "I hope you can forgive me".

Mindy was revealed and said "I'm gonna hug you know, you know, so we can forget this whole situation. I promise I won't snoop around your place again", Mindy said, walking into Danny's open arms.

"Thanks Min", Danny whispered softly just before Anna opened the door to the balcony. "Mindy, can we talk?"

Mindy excused herself, leaving Danny alone on the balcony. He started to think about what Jeremy had said to him last night as they were able to leave the office. "What do you have lose?" he had asked right before getting into a cab. For the whole night Danny had thought about the things that he could possibly lose. And now that he had surprisingly seen Mindy again, he got back to those thoughts. First of all, he could lose Mindy. They did not know each other that well yet, and he had the gut feeling that she only wanted to be friends. He usually trusted his gut feeling, because it was usually right. By confessing to Mindy and he might have feelings for her, he could scare her away and that would be that. Obviously then he would also lose a patient, but that did not matter. More important, he felt like he could lose himself and once again break his heart. It was not there yet, but he felt that if he ended up spending more time with Mindy just to get rejected, his heart could be broken, maybe even to a bigger extent that it had been broken by Christina. He had loved Christina, but known that their relationship wasn't broken – it was more the way it ended than the fact that it ended that had broken Danny. But he could not think of staying away from Mindy if she showed interest of spending time with her.

Anna escorted Mindy to the bathroom and locked the door.

"Anna, what is going on?" Mindy demanded.

"Well, first of all, didn't you come here for Cliff?" Anna asked, sitting on the closed toilet.

"Of course I did, what is that supposed to mean?" Mindy asked, a lot more snappily than was needed.

"Well, after greeting him when we arrived, you have been showing way more attention towards another gentleman and I think Cliff is starting to notice it."

"What do you mean?"

"Mindy, don't play stupid, you are all over Danny and he most certainly is all over you."

"Anna, what are you talking about? He just wanted to apologize for being quite temperamental yesterday and I gave him a hug just to let him know that everything was alright."

"You can't be serious in saying that you did not notice the way he was looking at you? "

Mindy did not respond. She realized she was still wearing Danny's hoodie.

"Babe, you are a smart woman, but when it comes to this, you are extremely blind."

"Anna, I can't properly elaborate for you how wrong you are without taking a lot of time. So let's just get back to the party so I can hang out with the man I came here to hang out with."

Mindy opened the lock of the bathroom and walked passed Anna without saying a word. She did not know how to feel about the things Anna had said to her. There was no way Danny was interested in her that way. She was pretty sure he wanted to be friends with her, but nothing more. Cliff, on the other hand seemed interested – he had seemed interested in Anna as well, but she thought she still maybe had the upper hand because she had met him before.

She found Cliff standing with a group of men in the lobby area and walked towards him. At that moment Mindy did not feel like herself at all. She felt like she had to prove something to Anna and more importantly to herself. Deep down, she wanted to be at the party with Danny. But she knew that was something that would probably never happen in reality, so she decided to be happy with the second best. Cliff was handsome and successful and what harm could it do for her to show him the type of attention he had shown toward her. Once she reached Cliff, she placed her arm around his waist, eventually moving her hand to his back pocket. Cliff looked surprised, but also extremely pleased.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Cliff asked, ignoring the men around him and giving his attention fully to Mindy.

"Do you think you could get me something to drink? Something strong?" Mindy asked in a low voice.

"Well of course I could" Cliff said, winking his eye and leaving Mindy there waiting for the drink. Cliff came back with a bottle of tequila and two glasses and poured them shots. "I'm happy you came here", Cliff said, raising his glass. "Me too. Now, let's drink", she raised her glass and they drank the shots. Shot after shot, Mindy started to lose herself and her thoughts about Danny while Danny was watching Mindy and Cliff laughing and touching each other as much as possible from the sidelines. After a while Danny shook his head and walked to the elevator, thinking to himself that he was stupid to even think there might have been a possibility Mindy would have had feelings for him.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Mindy woke up with a pounding headache. The light coming through the curtains was hurting her eyes and she was able to sense that there was someone there next to her in the bed. She was in her own apartment that much was clear, but she really did have to take her time to think who it might be that is sharing the bed with her. The memories of the previous night were fuzzy, and to some extent almost non-existent. She remembered going to the party with Anna, meeting Cliff and ending up in the balcony with Danny. She remembered that hug with Danny more clearly than any other event from the night, and even though she knew it was not Danny next to her in that bed, for a moment she wished that it was him. After that talk with Anna with her saying that she was into Danny and Danny was into her, she recollected that she had felt that she had something to prove which was followed be her starting to drink with Cliff. And this was the result, right there, the next morning in her bed.

Mindy tried to get quietly out of her bed, definitely regretting what had had happened. Getting batshit drunk and getting into bed with a guy she hardly knew and did not even like that much was definitely not her style. She almost felt like crying. But just as she was about to get up, she felt a hand tugging the blanket she was trying to cover herself with.

"Come back to bed babe", Cliff said with hoarse voice, trying to pull Mindy back to bed.

"I need to take a shower", Mindy said, pulling the covers with her desperately. Cliff had seen her naked, but they had both been drunk and Mindy felt like in the light of day, she did not want to be in front of Cliff like that. She did not remember anything about the sex, but was able to feel like it had happened. They were both so drunk that she was surprised that Cliff had been even able to do it. She felt more repulsed of herself than Cliff and knew that if she does not get to be alone soon, she's going to collapse and start crying.

"Can I join you?" Cliff said his voice all flirty and seductive.

"I think I need to be alone for a while", Mindy said, giving the final pull to the cover which she finally was able to release and almost ran to the bathroom. Once the door closed, she collapsed to the floor and started to cry. On the pile of laundry on the top the laundry machine was Danny's grey hoodie she had not remembered to return. She took the hoodie, hugged it against herself – the smell of Danny still lingering on the hoodie made her calm down a bit.

Mindy had no idea about how long it had been since she went to the bathroom when she heard Cliff knocking on the door.

"Mindy, are you alright?" Cliff said on the other side of the door. Mindy tried to cover the fact that she had been crying from her voice and said as happily as possible: "Yeah, I'm alright, I just need to be on my own for a while".

"I'll need to get going – I have an afternoon meeting with a client. But I'll call you as soon as you get out of that. Hopefully you let me take you to a dinner or something so we can talk about last night", he said.

"Alright" Mindy said, ending the conversation. She did not have anything to say to Cliff at the moment and she just felt like she wanted him out of her place so she can get out of the bathroom, change her sheets and cry in her bed. The moment she heard Cliff shut the door, she gathered herself from the floor, still holding Danny's hoodie in her hands. She placed the hoodie gently to a hook where her bathrobe was hanging and put the shower on. She wanted to wash away last night and more importantly wash away Cliff from her body. She started crying again, this time hysterically, her salty tears mixing in with the water.

When Mindy switched off the shower, she heard her phone ringing in her bedroom. She slowly got off the shower and did not hurry to answer the phone. She was pretty sure it was Cliff, and though she was feeling a bit better, she did not feel like talking to him yet. She realized she had no right to be mad at Cliff – she had been the one to even start the whole flirting and she had been the one who invited him in. She definitely would not have done with if she would not have been drunk, but there was nothing she could do to get back to last night to chance anything, so there was no point for her to extensively mourn about it. It was not like she had not had a one night stand before. It was just that she had made herself a promise not to do it anymore – she had promised herself that she would look for the "right" guy, the one who would stay by her side. And she was pretty sure Cliff was not that guy.

On her way out of the bathroom Mindy picked the hoodie that belonged to Danny. She pulled it on and walked to the bedroom. Cliff had found clean sheets from somewhere and there was a note on the bed:

_**"Mindy, I'm sorry if you are upset. I did not mean to hurt you or anything. I hope you'll answer when I call." –Cliff.**_

Mindy felt bad for being such a bitch for Cliff. Her phone was still ringing and when she glanced at the screen she saw it was actually Anna, not Cliff. There was also one unread text there, which she knew was most likely from Danny, cancelling their plans for the art show.

"What's up?"

"Mindy, can I come over?" Anna said at the other end of the line, sounding very wired.

"I don't know is now a good time…"

"Mindy, I need to talk to you. NOW! You'll never guess what happened…"

"Can't you just tell me over the phone?"

"No, I need to come there right now."

"Well, okay…"

Mindy ended the call with Anna and nervously opened the text. She was right, it was from Danny.

_** "I need to cancel our plans for today. – Danny Castellano"**_

No explanation, no apology. After last night, Mindy was sure she did not even deserve those. A lump rose in her throat and she was about to cry again when she heard her buzzer buzz. Anna must have been nearby. She buzzed her in and soon enough she was knocking on her door. When Mindy opened the door, Anna rushed in and ran to Mindy's bed, her face glowing.

"You will never guess with whom I had sex last night!" Anna exclaimed. Well, this was a surprise. And Anna was right, Mindy had no idea. Usually Mindy was all in for girl talk, but now she really was not in the mood, especially not if she was obligated to tell about her night with Cliff.

"You are right, I have no idea", Mindy said, sitting down in an arm chair in the corner of her bedroom.

"Well, after you left the party with Cliff, I ended up staying after, just to have a couple of more free drinks", Anna said. She clearly wanted to keep the guy as a mystery for as long as possible.

"How drunk was I last night?" Mindy asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Quite drunk, my friend. And all over Cliff after that little conversation we had in the bathroom", Anna said. Mindy did not say anything and Anna took that as a sign to keep going with her story.

"So, there I was, pouring myself a drink and he came over to talk to me. We ended up sharing a couple of drinks and the next thing I know, we're totally making out in the cab. I went over to his place, had crazy sex with him and left without he woke up", Anna said, clearly proud of her conquest.

"Was it Jeremy? I kind of thought he would be into that kind of thing", Mindy asked.

"I knew you would suggest that. But no, it was DANNY", Anna said.

Mindy felt like throwing up. It felt like someone had pulled a carpet from under her feet or like someone had punched her in the stomach so all of the air had escaped her. She was like a fish on a dry land, trying to gasp for breath. It was hard for her to keep herself together in front of Anna, but she had no option. She had told her that she did not care for Danny that way, and this was the consequence.

"Danny?"

"Yes", Anna exclaimed. "And let me tell you, that man is an exceptional lover. I thought he was not at all into me when I introduced myself and kept thinking that he's really into you. But then he somehow changed his mind and oh man… I am so happy about that." Mindy did not want to hear more, but she knew that Anna would keep going.

"I mean, he was pounding me like there was no tomorrow, like he was angry about something. It definitely wasn't lovemaking, but pure, animalistic sex. Damn" Anna said, her mind going back to the previous night. She had not been very drunk, so she was able to remember how she felt at that moment.

"Excuse me for a while; I have a quite bad hangover. Make some coffee or something if you want to" Mindy said, way too officially and politely, before locking herself in the bathroom. She put the water running and sat on the edge of the bathtub. A sob escaped her body and soon enough, she was full-blown crying. She knew she had no right to be hurt. She had no right to feel jealous. But she did. She felt hurt, jealous and broken in a way she had never felt before. She had gone through break-ups and falling out of love, but none of those had felt this way. She felt like someone had sucked the joy out of her. And all because this man she did not even know that well had had sex with her friend. Sitting at the edge of that bathtub, crying her eyes out, Mindy realized that she did not want Danny to be just a friend. She wanted Danny to be her "Mr. Right", the one who would stay by her side. The one who would support her, trust her, respect her, love her. But she had messed up even before that could have become a possibility. Now she knew why Danny had cancelled the art show. Any other day, she would have been interest to hear about Anna's conquests, but not today. Not certainly not with Danny.

"How was I able to mess this up so monumentally?"


	12. Chapter 12

Danny woke up in his bed, the memories of the night flashing in his eyes. How could have been so stupid? He had though he was beyond something like this. He had admitted to himself that he was interested in Mindy and knowing that she was not interested in him, he had still decided to act like a dick and use Anna as a vessel for some type of stupid revenge, thinking that Mindy would actually care. The way she had been touching Cliff right in front of him at the party, probably not even intentionally trying to annoy Danny, had awoken a fire inside him. He felt like when Christina had broken her heart – vengeful and angry. He had had the need to prove to himself that he did not cling to one woman, but that he could do whatever he wanted. He had to prove to himself that he was not emotional and that he did not have feelings for someone that could never be his.

Seeing Mindy at that party had taken his breath away. She had been the only person he had been thinking about since he basically threw her out of his apartment. He had been mad without a reason – it wasn't her fault that the picture was there and he should not have blamed her for something she did not know would upset him. More than anything he wanted to apologise to her, but he had felt that doing it over the phone would not be proper. He wanted to see her, but was too much of a coward to actually face her. So when he saw her at the party, he knew that his chance had come. When they got to the balcony and she had apologised to him, he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have met a woman of such understanding, intelligence and beauty. He wasn't able to find words to describe the hug – it has been spontaneous and warm and full of emotion from his part. When Anna came to get Mindy, Danny hoped that they had been somewhere else, just the two of them.

When he saw Mindy walk out of the bathroom, determined and with a gleam in her eyes, he knew that he had lost his game. When he saw that she was walking over to Cliff, he wanted to punch something. The little touches she was giving him, the little giggles and battings of eyelashes. The way Cliff looked at her, like a piece of meat that he would later on that night devour for a dinner, made Danny repulsed. He wished that he had the guts to just walk over, punch Cliff in the face and tell Mindy how he felt. How wished he could have told about how he wanted to take her on a proper date, tell her about himself and at the end of the night maybe kiss her softly and wish her goodnight. It was not only sex that he wanted from Mindy. He wanted to know her, protect her, and as cheesy as it sounded even to himself, make love to her, but only when the moment was right. But now the prospect of all of that was even further away than it had been before due to his own stupidity and need to show what a man he was.

Danny had heard Anna waking up and gathering her clothes from the floor before leaving his apartment. He had pretended to be asleep so he did not have to face her then. Danny felt repulsed of himself and the fact that he had basically used Anna just to get revenge over something made him feel sick. And since he lived close to Mindy, Anna was already probably there and knew everything. Mindy would probably laugh, ask Anna a couple of details about the night and then tell Anna how amazing and romantic Cliff had been. Danny had not been there at all for Anna – he had used the sex as a method to get rid of his anger and frustration, and if Anna would not have been at the party and willing to have a fling with him, he would have probably started a fight with someone to get rid of his frustration. At that moment the prospect of a fight seemed better to Danny – at least then Danny would probably feel a bit better about himself.

Danny got up and took his phone from the pocket of his pants that were in a heap on the floor with his other clothes. He did not bother dressing, and completely naked, with his phone on his hand, walked to the kitchen. He had to figure out how to tell Mindy that he would not be available for the art show later that day. He wanted to keep it was vague as possible so she would not ask any questions. Danny laughed at himself for even thinking that she would care so much that she would ask question. Danny could imagine, as painful as it was, Mindy in Cliff's arms, tired but happy after a night of lovemaking. The last thing she would probably think about was an art show date with her gynaecologist. After failed attempts from "I am so sorry but I can't make it today" to "I can't make it today but I can give the tickets for you and Cliff" (even the thought of this made Danny cringe), he ended up with "I need to cancel our plans for today. – Danny Castellano". It served the point and though left room for questions, was firm enough so she probably would not have any. It wasn't rude, but not friendly either.

Danny got a bottle of water from the fridge and walked back to his room to take a shower. Even the cleaning water could not wash away the thoughts Danny had in his head – he had been a complete dick, an utterly disgusting douche, and he did not know what to think of himself anymore.

After the shower Danny walked in to his closet. While looking for sweat pants and a t-shirt to wear, Danny remembered the signed Beyoncé CD he had begged his colleague get for him and the little white horse toy on the shelf – Mindy had said that her dream date would be a guy with a white horse and a Beyoncé concert and the day before, after being a dick for her, Danny had put together the little gift for her, hoping that it would not only work as an apology but also as a sign for her about his feelings. He wanted her to know that he had been listening to her. He just shrugged, shut off the lights and closed the door.

The CD and the horse would remain there, on that shelf, for quite a while gathering dust, forgotten by a man disappointed in love.


	13. Chapter 13

Mindy was sitting next to Gwen in Gwen's car. It was Halloween and she had asked Gwen whether it was alright if she came over for a couple of days, to which Gwen had happily agreed. Since Gwen had married Carl they had had a little less time for each other. And then Riley was born and Gwen had to focus on motherhood. But now, when Riley was bit older, it was easier for Gwen to focus on other things as well, and she was both surprised and happy about the fact that Mindy, who was also busy with her work, had wanted to spend a whole weekend with them. When Gwen got to Mindy's place, she realized that her friend was not alright – she looked tired, unhappy and sad – someone in definite need for a pick-me-up.

"Mindy, seriously, I think you are working a bit too much", Gwen said, looking at Mindy who looked even more overwhelmed that she had done during finals weeks in college. Since the disaster of a party Mindy had been in almost two months before, she had dived into her work just to avoid any possibilities for a social life. She had gone to dinner once with Cliff, but told him straight that she was not ready for to be with anyone at the moment. Cliff had understood and told her that if she felt like trying again, she should call him. A week later she had seen him in a grocery store with a young, blond woman he gleefully introduced as his girlfriend. At that moment, she knew that she was better off. Unfortunately, there was something else that bothered her more, something that kept her focused in her working, something she tried to avoid – Anna. She had talked to her only once since the party, actually a couple of weeks before, and though she did not mention Danny by name, she said that she's seeing someone she met in a party and that she was head over heels in love. So who else could it be but Danny? The timing matched exactly (she said that they met in early September, and that's when the party took place), she had hooked up with Danny and Anna had been ecstatic about it – so maybe that feeling just changed for love? She had not heard anything from Danny and she had not even tried contacting him – she was embarrassed by her own actions and still slightly hurt by the fact that Danny had slept with Anna. And she definitely wasn't ready to see Anna and Danny all happy together, especially since her thing with Cliff fell apart and her life had turned into a sad drama about a professional woman who did not even bother to try anymore.

"Gwen, I'm alright. This weekend will be all about doing as little work as possible and spending quality time with Riley", Mindy said.

"She has missed you and she's super excited about Halloween. But hey, another thing, don't kill me, but Carl and his colleague are having a little party for their friends and customers tomorrow night", Gwen said.

"Gwen, you got to be kidding me", Mindy yelled, definitely not prepared for a party, especially not for a fancy shindig like the ones Gwen and Carl used to host, especially before the birth of Riley.

"Mindy seriously, don't worry about this, it is only going to be a group of old men and their wives mainly", Gwen said, clearly not saying something she knew would make Mindy force her to turn the car around.

"I know, I know… Where's Riley going to be during the party?" Mindy asked.

"We're going to call the babysitter", Gwen said while turning to the suburb their house was located in.

"I'm going to be with her in the guest house", Mindy said determinedly "I don't even have anything to wear, and honestly, I am here to spend with time with Riley… and of course you. But I feel like I need to do some proper one-on-one bonding with my goddaughter."

"Mindy, no, Carl would hate to see you to miss the party."

"Gwen, I know what you mean is that you would hate to spend the party alone, talking to middle-aged stay-at-home moms about decoration tips and the brilliance of their husbands."

"They're not that bad, Mindy", Gwen said. She parked her car and Mindy reached for her small suitcase from the backseat.

"Yes they are. And I'm babysitting Riley during the party. And that's the end of the discussion on that", Mindy said determined and walked to the porch following Gwen's footsteps.

"Riley, my favourite little person, how are you?" Mindy asked when Riley walked in to the hallway, already wearing the Princess Halloween costume she would be wearing later when they were going to go trick or treating. After a short moment of hesitation, Riley gave a hug to Mindy and started to talk about her new doll enthusiastically. Mindy listened to her for a while, but then followed Gwen to the kitchen, telling Riley that she needed something to drink.

"Dr. Mindy, what's up?" Carl, Gwen's slightly older, but extremely handsome and wealthy husband asked. He was in the kitchen, working on his laptop and drinking coffee.

"Businessman Carl, I'm good", Mindy said and took a can of ice tea from the fridge.

"Did you hear about the party tomorrow night?" Carl asked, staring at the screen of his lap top.

"I did and I have decided to assume the role of Riley's babysitter", Mindy said.

"Sounds good", Carl said, clearly more involved with whatever he was doing on his laptop than the conversation that was taking place. Mindy looked at Gwen and gave her a glance that clearly said 'I told you so'. Gwen just looked at her and smiled. Maybe for the first time in a long time Mindy would feel somewhat happy.

On the next day, the day after Halloween, Mindy was just about to walk into the guest house with Riley when the first guests were arriving. Before, Mindy would have thought that the idea of her being a babysitter while a classy party was going on next door was criminal, but now she couldn't care less. She just wanted to stay in her comfortable pair of jeans and the grey hoodie she had never given back to Danny – first she had used it for sentimental reasons, but now she tried to prove to herself that she wore it only because it was comfortable. Riley was already in her pyjamas and it would only be a couple of hours before it would be her time to go to sleep. Gwen had promised Mindy that she would bring her some food when she got the chance, so there was no need for Mindy to leave the guest house until the next morning.

"So kiddo, what do you want to watch? We have Cinderella, Finding Nemo and Tangled" Mindy said, trying to calm down Riley who happened to be extremely hyper at that point.

"Aunt Mindy, can we just from the window to see the guests?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Aunt Mindy, can you move that chair there?" Riley asked, pointing first the large arm chair and then to the area by the window. Mindy walked to the chair and lifted it to the place Riley had indicated. She sat down and Riley took her place in Mindy's lap. They had a straight viewing access to the pathway leading to the house, so they were able to see the dresses the female guests were wearing and the men all clad in similar looking expensive suits.

"Aunt Mindy, why are these people here?"

"They work with your daddy or buy things from your father's company."

"They are all so old."

"Yes, they seem to be older than your mommy and daddy". Mindy zoned off a bit, moving her stare away from the window. She listened to Riley marvelling at a hat one of the guests was wearing.

"Look Aunt Mindy, why is that man alone?" Riley asked. Mindy did not look outside, but just gave her an answer: "maybe his wife is sick or not in town. You know old people can get sick easily during the fall".

"Aunt Mindy, he looks like a prince", Riley said. Mindy looked out of the window and saw a man standing in the yard, his hands in his pockets, his back facing the window. He was quite tall and had dark hair and Mindy felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but it was hard to make out his whole figure in the dark. Then he turned around and Mindy's heart skipped a beat. It was Danny, wearing a suit, really looking like a prince. And Mindy felt like he was staring right through that window.


	14. Chapter 14

Danny had been spending a lot of time at the gym recently; gym, work and his mother's place at States Island. He had formed a type of routine that felt natural, a routine that kept him busy and his thoughts away from that party, that night with Anna and more importantly, away from Mindy. He had picked up his phone so many times since that party, finding Mindy's number from the address book of his phone, all prepared to call. But what would he say to her? How would he explain why he did not make the art show or why he ended up with Anna? And would Mindy even be interested? He had not heard anything from her either, so maybe he should just read that a signal of her non-interest.

After her daily workout Danny walked towards the steam room. He was naked and his legs were sore from a workout on the elliptical machine. His arms and things had puffed up a bit in the past two months – not too much, but he was able to see the change from his body. He felt physically stronger too. His receptionist Betsy, who was usually very mild mannered and polite had told him that he looked good in a white s-shirt he had been wearing under his doctor's coat, which had surprised him. It really was a sign of chance if even Betsy took up to comment on it.

After picking up a towel from his locker, Danny walked into the steam room and did not sit there for when a man he instantly recognised walked in. It was Cliff, who he had never seen at the gym before. Since there was no were to hide, Danny had no other choice but to greet him.

"Hey Cliff", Danny said. Cliff sat at the other end of the bench and raised his hand at Danny.

"What's up, Danny boy?" Cliff asked, sounding happier than he had ever sounded before. Danny thought that it must be the effect of his involvement with Mindy.

"Not much buddy… Been quite busy with work lately", Danny said.

"Jeremy did tell me that you have been spending quite a lot of time at the office. Relax Danny, smell the roses, you only live once!"

"You only live once? What is going on with you?" Danny did not really want to hear about his happiness with Mindy, but at the same time was curious on why Cliff was suddenly even more ecstatic that he usually was.

"Danny boy, I think I am in love", Cliff said. Danny looked down to the tiles of the steam room and did not know what to say.

"I mean seriously, this girl is everything I've always wanted. Beautiful, funny, talented… and she's a model" Cliff said. Danny ignored the last addition and said "yeah, she's really all that" before he noticed that though Mindy fit all the other descriptions Cliff had given, she was not a model. She was beautiful and perfect, but not a model in in the classical sense of the word.

"Model? When did she start modelling?" Danny asked, suddenly feeling extremely wired and aware.

"What are you talking about? How do you know Cathy?"

"Cathy? You're not talking about Mindy?" Danny asked, now sitting at the edge of his seat.

"Mindy? Ohh, Doctor Mindy? No no no, we did hook up, but she said that she was not ready for a relationship. I guess she was still clinging back to some old relationship or she was just into someone else. But I guess I should thank her – when she cancelled on one of our dates, I went alone and ended up meeting Cathy", Cliff said.

Danny felt like standing up and dancing, but then he remembered that he was naked, only wearing a towel in a steam room. So he just kept sitting down, but he did smile like a lunatic.

"So you and Mindy? Not a thing?" Danny asked, wanting to hear Cliff say it again.

"Definitely not. You and her, that I could see", Cliff said, clearly done with talking about Mindy. Danny did not respond anything, but just kept on smiling.

Later that same day Danny was still flying high from the news Cliff had given him. Maybe there still was a possibility to reconnect with Mindy. He was on his way to a party held by this businessman he had bought some property from Staten Island. He usually did not go to these type of things, but he was feeling so good about the news that he decided to go – he felt like somehow he was meant to be there that night. He was wearing a white dress shirt, black suit and a black bowtie. He had bought the suit a couple of months earlier for a doctor's benefit – he usually was more of a jeans and a t-shirt guy, but now and then, he did not mind wearing a suit. The invitation had defined the party as semi-formal, which pretty much meant that most men would be wearing suits. Sometimes with these things he was in a rebellious mood and went wearing his jeans and a dress shirt, but that day he had automatically picked his suit from his closet. The Beyoncé CD and the horse toy were still there, not noticed by Danny. He had forgotten them, but would remember them soon enough.

Danny arrived to the posh looking house and parked his car on one end of the driveway. Most of the people would probably be arriving by a cab rather than their own cars, so they could enjoy the alcohol that would most likely be served at the party. Danny had felt like driving, which always cleared his thoughts, and had decided he could manage the party without a couple of glasses of champagne. His phone started to ring and he reached to his pocket to pick it up. It was Jeremy calling from the office, just confirming an appointment for the next day. Danny finished with the call and stand outside, his hands in his pockets, enjoying the crisp air before going in to the party. He was able to see people talking through the windows. When he turned around, he saw a little guest house – the lights were on, and for a moment he thought he saw Mindy in there, watching him through the window. He shook his head and when he looked there again, no one was there.

"Danny Castellano, it's good to see you", Mark, the man Danny had bought property from said while greeting Danny. Carl, Mark's business partner joined them, shaking Danny's hand and welcoming him to his home. The house was spectacular, a bit too posh for his taste, but nevertheless beautiful. He loved his place in the city, but dreamed about having a place in the suburbs if he sometimes ended up having a wife and a family. He was offered a drink, and after telling that he drove there, the waiter was sent to the kitchen to fetch a non-alcoholic drink for him. Danny shook hands with a couple of guests and was then escorted to the library by Carl for a game of poker. He declined from the game, but decided to remain in the library. Carl and his wife had a pretty extensive collection of books, both fictional and non-fictional in their library, and Danny felt quite a while looking through the titles, occasionally sipping his drink.

There were pictures on the mantelpiece and after browsing through the books, Danny moved to look at the photos. There was a collection of wedding photos – Carl and his beautiful wife Gwen smiling, looking happy and in love. Danny had been Gwen's doctor when the couple still lived in the city, and he had actually been the doctor witnessing the birth of the couples' daughter Riley. There were several pictures of Riley next to the wedding photos. Danny glanced through them fast – there was one of Riley as a baby, one of her riding her bike, one of her in a princess dress, one of her with her mother and a brown haired woman, one of her with a big, white dog. Danny had already moved to the professional looking family pictures when he did a double take and almost choked on his drink. The brown haired woman in one of the pictures was Mindy.


	15. Chapter 15

Danny took the picture away from the mantelpiece and just kept staring at it. Suddenly he heard someone clearing their voice behind him and he turned around. It was Carl and he suspiciously looked at Danny holding the picture.

"Riley has grown up a lot", Danny said.

"Yeah, she is growing too fast in my opinion", Carl said and chuckled. Danny did not respond anything, just kept his eyes glued to the photo. Riley, Gwen and Mindy were sitting on top of a picnic blanket, Riley was partly in Mindy lap. Gwen looked straight into the camera, smiling radiantly, whereas Mindy had thrown her head back, clearly laughing about something. Riley was looking at Mindy, also a smile on her face.

"Danny, are you alright?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, it's just…. This woman in the photo with Gwen and Riley…"

"How do you know Mindy?" Carl asked, clearly curious. He had tried to set her up with several of his friends, but none of them had been to her liking.

"She visited the clinic once… And I ended up spending her time with her after that." Danny said.

"Man, you hooked up with Mindy? She has extremely high standards, none of my friends have been good enough for her."

Danny looked now and Carl and shook his head.

"No, nothing happened; we just had a really good conversation."

Carl was just about to tell Danny that Mindy was actually in the guest house when Gwen walked in to the room and told him to come and meet some of the guests. Carl had to excuse himself before telling about Mindy's presence and just ended up patting Danny on the shoulder. Danny took a final look at the photo before placing it back on its place.

Mindy was pacing around the porch trying to figure out what to do. She could just go over, say hello to Danny and get over with it. But then on the other hand, maybe Anna was there at the party with him and he had just been waiting for her. Then she would have to seem all happy and interested about their relationship. And she was wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie, definitely not acceptable party attire for the occasion. And what would she even say to him? She wanted to talk to him, the way they had talked the night of the fire. But realistically, could she ever talk to Danny that way again? She had all these dreams and fantasies about a possible reuniting and rekindling of at least of a friendship, but in reality, when she would be faced with Danny, even if he was not with Anna and actually interested about Mindy, could she be herself with him anymore, knowing the little details about his night with Anna? She wanted to believe that she could, but there was a part of her that also signalled that that the facts about his night with Anna could be a bit too much for her to handle.

When Mindy went back in from the porch, the film was still playing on the television but Riley was already sleeping. Cinderella's prince was just on the screen, laying his eyes on Cinderella for the first time – Mindy realized how long she had actually been outside, just caught in her thoughts. She sat down next to Riley and watched the film for a while – why couldn't it be as easy for her as it was for Cinderella? Well yeah, Cinderella had to work her ass off for those bitchy sisters and a stepmother, but in the end, she experiences love at first sight. Mindy had had a wonderful mother and she did not have to work like a slave, but she did work hard. Why didn't she seem to deserve her prince charming? Just as Cinderella and the prince were dancing away to the garden, Mindy's phone beeped.

"When Riley goes to sleep please come and get some food for yourself". It was from Gwen. She thought she was supposed to bring food for her and sent her a message asking why she couldn't do so. Soon enough, she got a reply saying that Gwen had got herself in the middle of a poker game (Mindy was not even aware that Gwen could play poker) and that Mindy could use the backdoor, thus avoiding the guests, one of them in particular. Mindy lifted Riley to the little bed in the corner of the room, put the lights out and walked over to the backdoor that had a direct entrance to the kitchen.

"Excuse me, is it okay if I take something to eat?… I'm the babysitter" Mindy asked from a young girl wearing black and white.

"Yeah, of course – there's more in the fridge, just take anything you like", the girl said and walked towards the hallway. As Mindy was filling her plate with salmon puffs and little cocktail burgers Gwen always served, she heard the waiter telling someone that she or he could find extra napkins from the kitchen. Mindy felt like hiding out, just because of her attire and the fact that she never knew who she would run into. But she did not have time to come up with a plan before a dark, devilishly handsome man in an incredibly fitting suit and a charming bowtie walked into the kitchen.


	16. Chapter 16

Mindy did not know where to look. She wanted to look at Danny, but when she did, Danny, standing there with a grin on his face, just brought into her mind images of her first hugging Danny at the balcony at the party and then images of Danny with Anna, a situation she had not seen, but a one she had heard a lot about.

"Min, how are you?" Danny asked. Something inside her died a little when he called her 'Min'. She had thought about him calling her that again, kind of like their little special thing, but now I just felt like someone was crushing her heart in their hands, making it bleed.

"Dr. Castellano, how are you?" Mindy asked, trying to be aloof and distant, realizing she maybe went too far with the whole doctor thing.

"Doctor Castellano? Are you kidding me?" Danny said, chuckling a little.

"Danny", Mindy just said, testing the word in her mouth. She had thought about this moment a lot, coming face to face again with Danny, but it was nothing like she imagined. It was not like a moment from a romantic comedy, not a moment in which she was able to forget everything that had happened. It was not a moment in which Danny just told her about feelings that he had been hiding, not a moment in which she rushed into his arms for a little spin and a kiss. There was no romantic soundtrack or slow motion whirls. There was only the harsh light of the kitchen, the white counters and two very confused individuals, both with very strong, but unclear feelings, trying to figure out how to react to each other. Danny was able to sense that Mindy was wary around him, not sure whether she can trust her. Mindy was able to sense that Danny was unsure, a bit afraid and a bit disappointed – maybe the initial reconnecting had not gone the way he would have wanted it to go.

"Mindy, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now…" Danny started, but Mindy interrupted him before he got further with what he wanted to say. She was not ready to hear what he had to say now. She had wanted to talk to Danny too, but at that moment, seeing him without a warning, just made her a bit panicked and feeling like she wanted to just run away.

"Danny, sorry, I need to go", Mindy said. She placed the plate filled with food to the kitchen island and dashed away. But she was not fast enough because in an instant she was able to feel Danny's hand softly touching hers, clearly trying to indicate to her that he meant no harm, but just wanted her not to leave in haste. Or at least that is what Danny tried to signal with that touch.

"Mindy please, just five minutes…" Danny said. Mindy looked at him, now quite close, and felt like she could not say no to those gorgeous brown eyes. And deep down she did not even want to. She wanted to hear what Danny had to say, but at the same time was afraid about the possible conclusion they would reach. Maybe Danny would just tell her that he does not want to stay in contact with her anymore. Or maybe he would tell something completely opposite and in her current state of mind, Mindy would not be able to answer back to him and tell him that at one point she had thought that she could really see a future with Danny. And maybe she still could – it would just take time.

Mindy did not say anything, but walked back to her plate of food and sat down. Danny stood at the other side of the kitchen island, looking at Mindy. He did not know how to start. He had no idea about what she knew – he was sure she knew about the night he spent with Anna, but other than that, he had no clue.

"Mindy, about that party, I…." Danny started.

"I know about you and Anna. So you have no need to explain it to me", Mindy said, surprisingly snappily. She did not want to hear details about that night again.

"I wish I could say nothing happened…"

"Well, something definitely happened."

Both were quiet. Danny wanted to say that he knew that she slept with Cliff, but it would not be the right thing to do. He wanted to tell her that the night did not mean anything, but then that would make him seem like a complete and utter douchebag who just uses women for sex. And unfortunately he had been just that the night he slept with Anna. He just wanted her to know that the night with Anna did not come with any sort of follow up and that Anna was now with someone else, someone who actually wanted to be with her and not just hook up with her just to stop the anger from coming.

"Mindy, I'm sorry", Danny said. Mindy looked at him and though she was not sure how to be around with him anymore, she felt like swooning. The suit fit him so well, and the bowtie made him look all dapper and handsome and like he took a time machine from the 1920s just to attend the party. But most importantly, he looked honest and like he really was hurting – like the fact that he had broken Mindy's trust and made her suffer physically hurt him.

"Danny… I know I have no right to be angry about you and Anna, but it just… I don't know. I know we were only friends and all, so I have no right to be jealous or hurt, but I am. I am just a human and I thought there was something there, I don't know what. And I know I was with Cliff and everything…" Mindy rambled on. Danny just look at her, clinging into every word he said.

"Were?" Danny said sadly. Mindy looked at him, confused.

"Were friends? I was hoping we are still friends", Danny said.

Mindy stared at her plate, trying to figure out what to say next. She was desperate to ask about Anna, about what she would think about their friendship. Anna clearly had seen that Mindy was at least a little interested about Danny. But maybe Anna would be so confident about Danny not being interested in Mindy that she would not mind their friendship. And of course Mindy could always say that they're friends but not really mean it. But she was not like that, not when it came to friendships.

"What would Anna think about that?" Mindy blurted out.

"What about Anna?" Danny asked.

"Well, what would your girlfriend think about us being friends?" Mindy asked, still mostly staring at her plate rather than on Danny.

"Girlfriend?"

"Well, whatever you call her; girlfriend, life partner, chosen one…" Mindy said but did not get to go on with the list before Danny interrupted her.

"I'm not with Anna... After that night together I haven't seen her at all. I heard later that she ended up into a relationship with one of the other doctor's from the party", Danny said.

Mindy looked up at Danny with an expression on her face Danny had not seen on her face before. It was a mix of excitement and confusion, happiness and the expression you get when you hear something unbelievable. Mindy could not believe what she was hearing. She had kept thinking that Danny and Anna were a definite pairing, one that she could never be around just because of the fact that Anna was, or at least used to be, her friend and Danny the guy that never happened. But now, everything changed. Mindy was still upset and hurt and confused and not sure how to act around Danny, but at least now, with time and little effort, she could maybe enjoy the company of Danny again and be friends with him. And maybe more.

"Ahhhhh…" Mindy said, as if realizing something.

"I heard about you and Cliff", Danny said. He did not want to force her to talk about it, but wanted her just to know that he knew.

"Oh yeah, that didn't work out", Mindy said.

"I'm sorry", Danny said.

"Don't be. I don't think it was meant to work out. I had my focus somewhere else", Mindy said, now looking straight into Danny's eyes. Danny swallowed audibly, but had no idea what to respond. Though Mindy looked a bit tired, she was still beautiful and some traces of the sadness he had seen on her face a moment before had now disappeared, or at least faded away a little.

"Danny, I want us to be friends again", Mindy said determinedly. "Though I'm a bit hurt about what happened between you and Anna, I enjoyed our time together and would love to see whether our friendship could actually be as amazing as I imagined it to be. It might be a bit hard for me to trust you at first and I can't promise you it will change, but I promise you that I'll try". Danny smiled that crooked smile Mindy had noticed pretty much the first time she saw him.

Mindy offered her hand to Danny for a friendly shake, but instead Danny took it into his and softly squeezed it. Mindy felt like a current of electricity was going through her body. Danny felt it too, but both were quiet about it.

"Thank you, Min."


	17. Chapter 17

Mindy was standing at the Grand Central Station. The station was full of people wearing winter coats and colourful scarfs and mittens. Some had large suitcases, some only backpacks or purses. People around Mindy were hugging – either saying goodbye or hello. A couple to her left was kissing passionately – the man was wearing an army uniform and there were tears in the woman's eyes. The man brushed away the tears gently and looked at the woman that clearly loved him more than anything in a way that showed that for him, she was also the only one, the right person, the one he was meant to be with. Mindy couldn't stop staring at the couple. In her mind she came up with different stories about their relationship – how they were high school sweethearts and how he had been sent to war and how they had kept in touch through letters and emails and Skype calls. Or how they started talking online and fell in love while the man was in Iraq or Afghanistan and how this was actually the first time they ever met. Mindy was still deep in her thoughts when she felt someone bumping into her. She was about to apologize, when she realized that the someone was Danny.

"Danny?" Mindy asked, not believing her eyes. She had just seen Danny a couple of weeks before at Gwen's party where they had kind of patched their relationship and agreed to meet to spend some time together. Mindy had been extremely busy at work the past couple of weeks preceding the Thanksgiving weekend and though she had not had time to meet with Danny, she had been exchanging some emails and text messages with him. The whole arrangement had made it easier for her to get used to the idea again that she and Danny were actually friends again. And though she was still not feeling the same as she did before that party from where Danny left with Anna and she with Cliff, she started to feel again very strongly that there might be a chance she could develop more than friendly feelings for Danny. For a very short instant, she thought of what would happen if she would just jump into Danny's neck and kiss him as passionately as the woman next to her was kissing the soldier. Would Danny respond, or would he be drawn back? Would he gently lift her up a bit and swirl her? Would he move his hand into her hair and softly caress it while he was kissing her? Would he place her face between his hands and kiss her first softly, then more passionately?

"Mindy, what are you doing here?" Mindy heard Danny asking and was, unfortunately, pulled away from her thoughts.

"I'm waiting for my brother Rishi" Mindy said. It was clear Danny did not hear what she was saying, with a lot of people chattering around them, so she moved closer, almost touching his cheek with her face and said it again.

"He's coming over for Thanksgiving? That's great." Danny said. Mindy nodded and smiled before asking Danny why he was there.

"My brother Richie is coming over from Florida", Danny said. The announcement about a train leaving to Boston filled the station and a lot of people started to move towards the platforms. Mindy attempted to move a bit further away from Danny, but tripped. Next thing she knew, she was leaning against Danny's toned arms, looking at the smiling face of Danny.

"Mindy?" a guy on his early 20s, wearing a blue jacket and black jeans, a blue backpack in his back asked while appearing on the scene. He saw Mindy leaning towards an Italian looking guy, looking all smitten and over the moon.

Mindy straightened up fast, keeping her eyes on Danny before giving her attention to the guy talking to her.

"Rishi!" Mindy yelled and hugged her brother.

"Mindy, come on, don't embarrass me", Rishi said playfully, clearly also happy to see Mindy. When Mindy moved further from Rishi, she saw how he was looking at Danny – it was a way that clearly indicated that if you mess with my sister, you'll be in big problem. Rishi definitely had a wrong idea about the nature of the relationship between Mindy and Danny.

"Rishi, this is Danny", Mindy said. Danny offered his hand for a handshake and Rishi took it and said: "If you mess with my sister, I'll come looking for you". Danny looked straight up afraid for a while, but then Rishi laughed a little and continued: "Nice to meet you, man. I couldn't resist, you looked so freaked out".

Danny chuckled. "It's nice to meet you too", he said and looked at Mindy. Mindy herself did not see the longing way he looked at her, but Rishi was able to see it. It was the exact same way he looked at Maria, a girl he had met at college.

"I did not know that Mindy has a boyfriend", Rishi said.

Danny smiled and waited for Mindy to respond. He was able to see that she was freaking out a bit, not sure how to form the words that would explain the situation to Rishi. Danny could not stop thinking how good Mindy looked, and how she had smelled like vanilla when she had to lean close to him to talk to him in the crowded station. And when she had tripped and he had balanced her, he had felt like she was designed to be held by him – she fit perfectly to his arms and he hoped Rishi would have taken a bit longer just so he could have held Mindy for a little bit longer.

"Rishi, me and Danny are just friends, right Danny?" Mindy said and looked at Danny. Danny hesitated for a second and then affirmed Mindy's argument. This was final proof Rishi needed to see that Danny was really into his sister. Rishi had not seen Mindy look at someone quite the way she looked at Danny either – maybe there was something between them they just did not see.

"DANNYYYYYYY". Danny, Mindy and Rishi turned towards the sound and they saw a tall, quite skinny guy approaching them. Danny opened his arms and the guy walked straight into them, and they hugged very affectionately and kissed each other's cheeks. The guy looked a bit like Danny, but he was taller than him, and definitely not as buff. But there were similarities in their eyes and the guy also had the crooked smile Danny had, which made it very clear for Mindy that this must be Richie.

Before Danny got the chance to introduce Mindy and Rishi to his brother, Richie extended his hand, first for Rishi and then with more attention to Mindy. Danny had mentioned Mindy to his brother once or twice, and he knew that from the description Danny had given him, he was able to recognise Mindy.

"You must be the smart, funny and beautiful doctor from Boston", Richie said to Mindy. Mindy blushed, knowing that the only way Richie was able to describe her like that was due to the fact that Danny must have described her that way.

"That is quite a description someone has given about me", Mindy said and briefly looked at Danny, who was also now looking a bit embarrassed.

"I can see my brother wasn't lying", Richie said and winked at Danny. Danny felt his face heating up – this definitely wasn't a situation he had thought he would get in when he left the clinic in order to pick Richie up.

"Okay Richie, stop talking" Danny said and tried to chuckle away his embarrassment. Mindy looked over at Danny, and for a moment it felt for him like there was no one else in the lobby with him but Mindy. She smiled, clearly thankful for his words – her eyes were shining and she looked happy. It was a definite improvement to how sad and tired she had looked when he last saw her at Gwen and Carl's party.

"Chill, man. So fair Mindy, what are you going to do tonight?" Richie asked. Before Mindy had time to respond, Richie added: "I'm not hitting on you or anything; Danny would kill me and I am totally into guys".

"Ohh…" Mindy said "I think that's up to Rishi really".

"I don't care, I'm good for anything", Rishi said when he saw that Mindy was looking at him.

"You guys should have dinner with us. Danny's cooking and he always makes too much", Richie said.

"That sounds good, Mindy is a horrible cook", Rishi said.

"That is not completely true" Mindy said, defending herself.

"You burned noodles to the bottom of a pan and those are supposed to be like the easiest food to prepare", Rishi said.

"Okay, fair enough" Mindy said.

"Okay, so it's settled", Richie said and patted Danny on the back.

"Only if it's okay for you Danny", Mindy said, looking at Danny. Danny swallowed and started to think of what would impress Mindy. Maybe this could be his chance.

"It's my pleasure, Min." Danny said, again feeling like they were the only two people in the lobby.


	18. Chapter 18

"Man, it smells amazing in here", Rishi said when Danny opened the door to his apartment for them and welcomed them in. Mindy took a bottle of wine from her purse and handed it for Danny.

"Danny, thank you so much for inviting us", Mindy said smiled to Danny. That one smile was all the thanks he needed.

"I can take your jackets", Richie said, walking into the lobby area. But Danny was already behind Mindy, waiting for her to slip out of her jacket. When she did, a beautiful black and red dress was revealed and Danny had to catch his breath. The dress was tight and perfectly fitted Mindy's curves from the right places. Danny could not stop staring at Mindy's behind, which both Richie and Rishi were able to see as well. Rishi couched a little, bringing Danny back to attention.

"Rishi, do you like video games?" Richie asked and once Rishi nodded, they disappeared to the office/library and closed the door.

"Okay man, so it's perfectly obvious that my brother is really into your sister, right?" Richie asked Rishi once they got to the room Danny used as his study.

"Yes, occasionally even a bit too obvious. I tried to ask Mindy about it, but she just laughed that said that there're "kind of friends"", Rishi said.

"Danny was saying the same. I know they had a fight of some sort a while back, but according to Danny that's all in the past now"

"I heard about it as well" Rishi said and took the game control Richie was offering for him.

"Maybe they stop being fools and realize what's right in front of them", Richie said.

"Mhhhhh" Rishi just mumbled and concentrated on the game.

Mindy and Danny stared quietly at the closing door of the study that now enclosed Richie and Rishi.

"Do you need help with anything in the kitchen?" Mindy turned to Danny and asked.

"I have some vegetables to chop. You want to do that?" Danny asked and started to walk towards the kitchen. Mindy followed him and said "that sounds perfect. And probably won't make me ruin to food".

Danny chuckled and gave her a chopping board and a knife.

"You've done surgery, right? So you should be confident with a knife?" Danny asked playfully.

"It is the vegetables I'm not confident about", Mindy said and smiled at Danny. Danny was once again smiling that adorable crooked smile and for a moment they just smiled at each other, completely forgetting what they were doing and even where they were and why.

"Danny, really, thanks again for inviting us", Mindy said suddenly. Danny had now turned to stir the sauce and his back was facing Mindy.

"Hey, no problem", Danny said, not turning around.

Mindy continued the chopping and suddenly, out of nowhere, felt tears in her eyes. She knew that the holidays would make her cry at some point, but she never expected it to happen there, at Danny's kitchen. As she started to think about the crying itself and why she was crying, she felt like she couldn't stop. This always happened with her – she could cry just a little about something and then she would start to think about all the possible reasons for crying and suddenly those things actually made her cry. Her hands were covered in the juices of tomatoes and she couldn't excuse herself without Danny seeing the tears. She tried to swallow her tears and brush them away with her arm, but as she was doing so, more and more tears started to fall and suddenly a sob escaped her mouth. Instantly, Danny turned around with a panicked expression on his face. He rushed to Mindy's side and put his arm around her.

"Did you hurt yourself. Let me see", he said, almost out of breath. He took Mindy's hands in his and quickly realized she had not hurt herself. He let her go, but sat down next to her and turned to face her, looking at her intensively.

"Mindy, what's wrong?"

"I'm such a mess, I'm sorry", Mindy said, brushing her tears away. She hoped that she would have actually hurt herself a bit because being that close to Danny had felt good.

"Hey hey hey, don't apologize" Danny said, softly touching Mindy's hand. Again, the currents of electricity were there.

"I knew that these holidays would be hard for me…. It's the first holiday season since my mother died", Mindy said, looking down at the kitchen island.

"Mindy… I'm so sorry", Danny said and gently squeezed Mindy's hand.

"My mother used to love the holidays. We did live according to Indian traditions to some extent, but my mother adored the Western holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the commercialism and such she was able to afford to give us", Mindy said. Danny was now slowly rubbing his thumb on Mindy's hand and Mindy felt almost intoxicated by the movement, at the same time feeling extremely comforted and like she could say anything she wanted. It was clear to Danny that Mindy was not done with the story yet, so he just stayed quiet and gave her time to continue when she felt like doing so.

"She was born in India and her family never really had the money to waste for something like presents… Christmas at my house was magical; my mother always went over the top with the decorations, which I was really embarrassed about in high school, but which I learned to appreciate almost too late. Last Christmas I was the one putting up all the decorations because my mother was so sick, and I was able to see the disappointment on Rishi's face when he saw that my decorating was not as lavish as my mothers. I guess I just wish that Rishi would have had a couple more years with my mother here. After she died I tried my best to support him and encourage him to continue with his studies and such, but now when I ask about his grades and courses, he tells me not to worry about it. My father, still quite active and healthy, is living in India for a while with some family. I think staying in Boston brought up too many memories for him." Mindy said. She knew that she was beyond the point, pretty much telling her whole life story to Danny, but she couldn't stop. For the first time in a long time she felt like someone was fully listening to her and what she had to say.

"Rishi misses our mother but has a hard time talking about it. I miss her too, of course, but I feel like most of the time I miss her more as my best friend than as my mother. She was always the one I asked advice from when it came to career choices and dating. She was the one I usually called after work and told about my day, about the little details like what I ate for lunch or what I was going to have for dinner."

"What would you tell her right now?" Danny asked.

"I would tell her that Rishi is here and that he seems happier than he did the last time I saw him. I would tell that dad called saying that being in India has been eye opening so far and that he loves us and wishes that he could be here for the holidays but that it is too hard for him at the moment. I would tell her that I'm doing fine at work and that I'm finally feeling like I'm doing the right kind of job for me. I would tell her that I met someone who can make me smile and who is kind and considerate and handsome", Mindy said and looked at Danny.

Danny was taken aback by the last comment, not realizing that she was talking about him and knew that it was not his place to ask who she was talking about.

"Well, there it is, you just told her all of that", Danny said, still holding Mindy's hand. "What do you think your mother would say back to you?"

"She would say that she's happy that I invited Rishi over. She would say that I should give my dad as long as he needs to recover and that it has always taken Lahiri men a bit longer than the women to get back to normal. She would tell that she's proud of men and happy to hear that I've found something I love to do. Lastly, she would ask more details about the guy, like why he makes me smile, how he makes me feel and whether I think I'm in love with him."

"And what would you say?" Danny was holding his breath now. He didn't have any idea that Mindy was seeing someone.

"I would say that he is extremely funny in his own, kind of dry way. I would tell her that he was comforting and considerate and caring. I would tell her about the way he smiles and quietly chuckles. I would tell her about his brown eyes and his big, strong hands. And I would tell her that I wasn't in love yet, but that it definitely was a possibility", Mindy said, now looking directly at Danny, indicating to him that she was most definitely talking about him. She couldn't believe that she had actually been brave enough to bring this up, but the way he had listened and comforted her had made her eager to be honest, because that is what her mother would have told her to do if she would have gotten the chance to tell her about Danny. Her mother would have told her to tell him how she feels so she could see whether she was wasting her time with him. She would have said that life is short and that if we see something we like, we should see some effort in order to reach it.

"That guy sounds amazing", Danny said, still clearly in the blind.

"Danny… You know right that the guy I'm talking about is…" Mindy was saying just when Richie and Rishi stormed out of the study and Danny quickly let go of Mindy's hand. There was a bit of sadness in his eyes, maybe from the fact that he had to let go of Mindy's hand, maybe because he did not know that she was talking about him.

"Did we interrupt something?" Richie asked.

"No, no", Mindy and Danny said in unison.

"Alright, then. Is the food ready?" Richie walked into the kitchen and lifted the cover on one of the pots.

"Danny man, what happened to this?" Richie asked. Danny got up from his chair and walked to the other side of the kitchen island. He looked into the pot and groaned.

"No no no no no no no no no", the whole sauce had burned to the bottom of the pan and the pasta had been boiling for way too long and was now all mushy.

"Danny, is everything alright?" Mindy asked, standing up from the seat in order to go and see the food as well.

"What were you doing here? The whole dinner is ruined" Richie said.

Danny was holding his head in his hands and he looked like he would soon beat it against a wall or something. Mindy lifted the covers of the pots and started to laugh. Richie started to laugh too, and soon Rishi, who also came to see the damage, was cracking up. Only Danny was quiet. Mindy went over to him and lifted his hands away from his face gently. Danny looked at her, with tears in her eyes, this time from laughing and smiled to her.

"There we go", Mindy said when she saw Danny smiling, "we have a smile". Richie moved to Danny and patted him on the back, saying that he would get the pizza catalogue so they could order something to eat. Rishi was still laughing at the pasta that now looked more like mashed potatoes, just in form of pasta. When Richie came back, he noticed that Danny and Mindy were still holding hands from when Mindy moved Danny's hand from him face and kept them in hers so he would not be able to cover his face again. They had been laughing with Richie and Rishi, but now it looked like they were not aware there was anyone else in the room – they just laughed and looked at each other adoringly. Richie softly pushed Rishi and nodded towards the direction of Mindy and Danny. They looked at each other knowingly after which Richie cleaned his throat that Mindy and Danny quickly let go of their hands.

"Let's order some pizza", Danny said.


End file.
